Magnitude 4.3 earthquake jolts Northern Illinois, Twitter spreading the word.

Twitter is already trending with the news of the earthquake that has hit Northern Illinois. News of the earthquake is spreading faster on Twitter than on traditional news channels. News of the earthquake has sent feelings of shock and fear to some users but there are no reports of any damage.


Magnitude 4 is now trending at the number 3 spot and will rise to number 1 in a short while as news of the earthquake spreads.


The U.S. Geological Survey has reported an earthquake shook the area near Dekalb, IL at 4:59:34 EST Wednesday morning.
According to the government website, the magnitude was 4.3 and took place 4 miles WNW of Virgil, IL, 5 miles E of Sycamore, IL, 5 miles N of Maple Park, IL, 8 miles ENE of DeKalb, IL, and 48 miles from Chicago.
According to USGS, "a magnitude 4.0 eastern U.S. earthquake typically can be felt at many places as far as 60 miles from where it occurred, and it infrequently causes damage near its source. A magnitude 5.5 eastern U.S. earthquake usually can be felt as far as 300 miles from where it occurred, and sometimes causes damage as far away as 25 miles."
Several viewers from South Bend, Walkerton, and Baroda MI have called WNDU reporting that they felt the tremor. We'll bring you more information as it becomes available.

A moderate earthquake struck northern Illinois Wednesday morning, waking up residents in the Chicago area.

The 4.3 magnitude quake, centered 48 miles west of Chicago near the city of Sycamore, hit at 4 a.m. local time at a depth of about 3 miles.

"The whole house shook," Walter Mockus of St. Charles told the Chicago Tribune. "The chimes that hang were all ringing. It was so loud, I thought a plane had gone down."

On Twitter, user RosaMCabrera wrote: "Earthquake woke us! In ravenswood it was a second or so."

There were no immediate reports of damage.

Quake Shakes Northern Illinois

SYCAMORE-An earthquake shook parts of northern Illinois early Wednesday morning. The U.S. Geological Survey reports a 4.3 magnitude quake centered east of Sycamore at 4 a.m. That's about 45 miles west of Chicago. 

News outlets in the Chicago area have received reports from people saying it felt like their house was shaking, but it only lasted a few seconds. There are no reports of damage or injuries.

An earthquake rattled northern Illinois early Wednesday, shaking an area about 50 miles west-northwest of Chicago, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

The magnitude 4.3 quake hit just before 4 a.m. CT (5 a.m. ET), with an epicenter about 3 miles underground.

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