Strong earthquake rocks Midwest

Associated Press

WEST SALEM, Ill. -- A strong, 5.4-magnitude earthquake has rattled wide parts of the Midwest.

It was centered in southern Illinois near the town of West Salem, but was felt as far away as Milwaukee, 350 miles to the north. Skyscrapers shook in Chicago's Loop, 240 miles north of the epicenter, and in Indianapolis, 160 miles to the northeast. People in Cincinnati and St. Louis also felt the earth shake.

A resident of Philo, Illinois, south of Champaign, says the house was shaking and the windows were rattling. And he says for central Illinois, it was "a big deal."

There are no reports of any injuries or significant damage.

The U.S. Geological Survey says this morning's quake happened in a region known as the Illinois basin-Ozark dome, which does not usually get quakes. The biggest on record, also a 5.4, happened in 1968.