Illinois Quake? Wow

A geologist has sent a ripple of curiosity through the media by calling today's Illinois earthquake “not unusual," ABC News reports. The 5.2 temblor, which caused no injuries or major damage, is one of many the state has experienced since 1795. One rocked 500,000 square miles in 1909. "Is this an earthquake zone?" researcher Nano Seeber asked. "Yes."

New York, Boston, and Memphis are all earthquake zones too. And East Coast quakes can wreak more damage because soil and bedrock there lets waves travel farther. "The waves go through and go for a longer distance" in Midwestern and Eastern states, Seeber said. "It's well-known the same size earthquake can do a lot more damage." (More earthquake stories.)