WALTONVILLE — Southern Illinois was struck with an earthquake late Sunday night, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).
USGS reported that a 3.1-magnitude earthquake struck around 10 p.m. Sunday near the town of Waltonville in Jefferson County. Waltonville is about 15 miles north of Mt. Vernon.
The quake is the second significant one within the past two months, USGS notes. A 3.6-magnitude earthquake shook Standard in Putnam County on November 15.
“Moderately frequent earthquakes occur at irregular intervals throughout the region,” a representative from the USGS said. “The largest historical earthquake in the region — a 5.4 magnitude earthquake — hit in 1968.”
Illinois lies within two zones known to have earthquakes – the New Madrid fault (which spans through the central Mississippi Valley from Cairo and runs through portions of Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Arkansas) and the Illinois Basin-Ozark Dome, which also runs concurrent to the New Madrid fault and where Waltonville lies.
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