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.