Small earthquake rumbles near Illinois-Missouri border

10:49 a.m. CST, February 21, 2012

A 4.0-magnitude earthquake rattled towns in four Midwestern states including downstate Carbondale but no major damage was reported, officials said.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the epicenter of a magnitude 4.0 earthquake at 3:58 a.m. was located near the town of East Prairie, Mo., roughly midway between St. Louis and Memphis. Several people in five states -- Missouri, Illinois, Arkansas, Kentucky and Tennessee -- felt the quake, along with scattered people in four others, as far away as North Carolina and Georgia, according to responses to the U.S. Geological Survey website.

Only minor damage was reported, such as items falling from shelves, broken windows, minor cracks in walls and sidewalks, said Amy Vaughan, a geophysicist for the Geological Survey office in Golden, Colo. No injuries were reported.

East Prairie City Administrator Lonnie Thurmond said the quake lasted perhaps seven seconds.

"It seemed like everybody I've talked to, it woke 'em up," Thurmond said.

Late last month, a 2.4-magnitude quake sent tremors through tiny north suburban McHenry and several towns in Wisconsin.

The Associated Press contributed

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