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Apr 18, 2008 9:48 pm US/Central
Downstate Residents Spooked After Earthquake
Extensive Damage To Some Buildings Near Epicenter
MT. CARMEL, Ill. (CBS) ―
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Janet Klem of Mt. Carmel sits on her steps, where in the early morning hours of April 18, 2008, an earthquake caused her porch to collapse.
CBS
It is quite possible that until Friday many in the Chicago area never heard of Mt. Carmel, Ill. It's a sleepy little town of about 8,000 people near the Wabash River. But now, thanks to the big shake, it's on everybody's map.
A 5.2 magnitude earthquake hit southern Illinois and shook states as far away as Georgia and Michigan.
The epicenter was located about 300 miles south of Chicago in Mt. Carmel, near the Indiana border.
Surveillance video from a Mt. Carmel convenience store shows items tumbling to the floor from their places on shelves and a very unnerved clerk.
So was Tom Tougaw. When the 5.2 magnitude earthquake was over he found that ceiling tiles in his home had rained down onto his computer workstation, only a few feet from his sleeping son.
Homeowner Janet Klem sat Friday afternoon on the wreckage of what was once her front porch and recalled the noise of the earthquake. She said it was like a bomb going off.
"Things coming off the walls, pictures breaking, got up out of bed, went to the front room, opened the door and lo and behold I couldn't get out it," Klem said.
A few blocks away an old brick school house, converted into a four-unit apartment building suffered extensive damage. Bricks that tore loose were everywhere; piled up on the fire escape and the ground, they feel from the roof. Now authorities say the building will likely be condemned, leaving the four families who lived there homeless.
"As of right now, we can't go in there until an inspector comes by and chances are they're going to condemn it, and I don't even know if they're going to let us get our stuff out or not," said Michael Morrow.
It wasn't the only building in town that sustained damage.
In nearby Albion, Ill., the damage was less severe. But locals gathered at a coffee shop say they won't forget the noise.
"I was laying in bed and all of a sudden heard just like a big roar. I don't know how to explain it, just a big roar," said Jerod Hallom. "It just kept getting louder and louder and everything started shaking."
And then, there was the aftershock six hours later.
"I have a large window in the front of my office and the window and the blinds were swaying. It would get your attention," said Albion resident Richard Klein.
That, perhaps, is the biggest understatement of the week.
Friday night the big concern is a possible repeat, or a major aftershock. People are spooked, and, based on the damage seen, with good reason.
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