Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/earthquake-shakes-up-american-midwest Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Transcript The Midwest awoke to a forceful magnitude 5.2 earthquake early Friday morning. The earthquake, centered in southern Illinois, damaged property but no injuries were reported. Ray Suarez talks to an expert about the rare Midwest quake. Read the Full Transcript Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors. JUDY WOODRUFF: Now, the earthquake that rocked the middle of the United States today. Ray Suarez has more. RAY SUAREZ: Here to tell us about the quake and the forces that caused it is Timothy Kusky, director of the Center for Environmental Studies at St. Louis University and author of the book "Earthquakes: Plate Tectonics and Earthquake Hazards."And people reported across a big chunk of the Midwest feeling the tremors, Professor, but what was happening under their feet? What was going on below the ground that they were feeling? TIMOTHY KUSKY, St. Louis University: Well, there was an earthquake with a magnitude 5.2 centered in eastern Illinois. And the energy moved out from the epicenter in all directions and was transmitted as far as Chicago, as far as Atlanta. It shook St. Louis. And people felt the ground shaking as a result of that energy being released. RAY SUAREZ: Well, you live a couple of hours' drive from the epicenter. Was it a substantial feeling where you were? TIMOTHY KUSKY: It sure was. It woke me up out of bed. It woke my whole family up and the pets up. And the house was shaking back and forth for maybe 5 or 10 seconds. RAY SUAREZ: Is 5 or 10 seconds about how long quakes last along this particular fault line that runs through Indiana and Illinois? TIMOTHY KUSKY: That's pretty typical, yes. People who live on softer soils can feel the shaking last for a longer time, because the very thick soils can amplify the amount of ground shaking. But the actual earthquake event that shook the ground was about 5 or 10 seconds in duration.