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  We asked you to tell us where you were and what you felt when the earthquake hit. Here are your responses. 

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was sitting in my kitchen when my chair started shaking. I noticed the leaves of my plant were shaking with anxiety. All I could do was think what the hell is going on. --Jane Gajeski

I was sleeping when the earthquake hit. I was awakened by the feeling that my bed was moving. My first thought was that something was under my bed. We had had trouble with a mother racoon and her babies in our attic last summer and had to have someone come and trap the mother and remove the babies. The mother racoon had started digging through the attic floor into one of our bedroom ceilings. My first thought was that we had another racoon that had somehow gotten in my bedroom and was under my bed. So, I lay there for a while listening and when I didn't hear anything else, I realized it must have been something else causing the movement. That's when I turned on the radio to find out if there was an explosion on something dramatic that would have caused it. Then I heard on the radio that we had a seismic event. --Kathy Yendrek

I was working in Bridgeport (Chicago neighborhood) and woke up all of a sudden, to feel the bed shaking underneath me. I checked the time; it was 4:40 A.M. I then heard what sounded like little pebbles being flung against sheets of glass (i.e. windows rattling). It seemed fairly long in duration, but, in reality, lasted likely a couple of minutes (the vibe going on is what woke me, I believe). As I listened further, I could hear airplane traffic overhead (seemed louder and more than usual, but can't be sure if it wasn't just early morning regular commercial traffic). That later sound made me consider that, if not an earthquake, it might have been super-sonic booms in airspace sending repercussions to earth. Only later, did I here the reports of the quake on the news. Did anyone sense an aftershock this morning (sometime before 7:30ish-- this time, I didn't check the exact time)? It felt like some short vibes to me (the bed seemed to shake slightly again for some seconds. --Stephanie Sweas


I was lying in bed and just got in that morning and lord and behold I felt some vibrations when I was in bed. I couldn't believe it, it felt like it going through my body. I fell asleep got up about 6:00pm saw on the news it was a earthquake, then I knew, I wasn't losing my mind. --Beverly


I was at the office by 10:14 AM, apparently around the time the second earthquake hit. I didn't feel a jolt, but the phones in our office went dead twice in a fifteen minute span. As for the first one, I didn't hear or feel it, and I never noticed my one year old cats reacting either. --Maureen Brill


I was awaken out of a deep sleep by the sound of the stuff in my curio cabinet in my bedroom rattling (didn't feel a thing in the water bed). I told my cat to get off the cabinet and went back to sleep. It wasn't until later that I found out it was an earthquake and I realized that the cat isn't THAT fat. --Kathy Sharp


I'm in Glen Ellyn. I had just gone back to sleep after tending to my 2 month old. I think it woke me up, but that part's a bit hazy. The bed begin to shake/rock and I woke my husband up saying "do you feel that?" He did. It slowed a little then got a little stronger again and then died down. I told him I thought it was an earthquake. We both had experienced one in San Jose when visitng there. He thought it must be a train rumbling by, but the train tracks are not close to us and the only thing the big freight trains ever do is slightly rattle our picture frames. I was pretty sure it felt like an earthquake but didn't really think it could be. When I woke in the morning again I turned on the news to find it was one. Crazy! --Vern


I was in a hotel bed in downtown Toledo, OH when my bed started shaking ~5:40 AM EST Friday morning. It only lasted about 30 seconds or so, but it was strong enough that I thought someone was shaking my bed. I had experienced on other such minor tremors some years before while living in Cleveland, OH so I knew what it was. My wife called me about the same time and said that our whole house in Sycamore, IL (far west Chicago suburbs) was shaking more violently. The bedroom mirror was rocking back and forth as were all of the furniture handles - she thought it was either an earthquake or the furnace was going to blow! She was pretty shaken herself. --Rick Champan


Chicago-5 miles north of the Loop--Andersonville/Uptown neighborhood) Around 3:45 or so, I heard the birds outside my window making a lot of racket like it was broad daylight and the sun was out. It struck me as odd. At 4 a.m. I put on a relaxation tape which always makes me fall asleep. When it was over I was wide awake, which was unusual. A minute or so later I felt the bed wobble, which made me feel a little nausea. (I thought the cat had jumped on the bed and shook it.) The windows started rattling like someone was trying to break in the house and I realized the house shook a little like a truck went by. It lasted about 5 or 10 seconds. Then I felt another little rumble a few seconds after that. I had no idea what it was. Thought the water radiators had a problem. --Gene Skala


I live in Des Plaines and around 4:30AM i woke up to my bed shaking and my dresser's metal handles banging away. Being half asleep I at first was a little scared. I watched Blair witch Project before I went to sleep and first thought some spook was shaking my bed like in the movie LOL. Then, after figuring that the thougt was absurd, I looked under my bed thinking it was my dog. Not seeing anything I went back to sleep. I realized what had happened when I got to work and my co-workers asked if I had felt the earthquake!!! People forget that we are on a major fault. Spooky and wonderous!!! --Mary Bremmer


We live in Hammond, Indiana, and were at home when the quake hit. I did not feel the first jolt or the aftershocks, but I am not writing only about what happened to me. We have 12 cockatiels here. They were settled into their cages for the night about 10 or 11 pm. We were awakened in the early morning hours to the sounds of them flapping around and squawking. This is very unlike their usual nighttime routine, so at first I told them to stop it and went to make sure they hadn't injured themselves flapping around. They stopped for a short time, but then started up again. This went on and off for about 20 - 30 minutes. I guess we were too sleepy to realize what this behavior was a precursor for, because I have seen it happen before when I lived in Nevada, and we would feel when California had a big one. The birds also had this behavior again around 10am when the aftershock hit. --Kimberly Hlavach


my guinea pig started making all kinds of noise and woke me up at 4:00 this (Friday) morning --Jasmine Freeman


The first earthquake I did not feel but the one that hit at 10:15am I was on my computer when the glass door on my computer printer stand started to shake . The glass shook harder and then I could feel the movement coming towards me then, under me, and finally going away from me. And to think I slept right through the stronger one earlier in the morning. --Don Barkowski


I was asleep in hobart indiana when my husband woke me up asking me to stop shaking the bed. I then heard my daughters crib rattling in the next room. WOW! --Heather


I didn't even know about this until I turned on CBS 2! I was like, oh my gosh! Where did this earthquake happen? Then, I saw it was in Illinois, I was like, oh my God, there's never been one here before! I was really nervous at first incase another earthquake would have struck, but I didn't feel anything at all since I was sleeping at 4:30am this morning. But my friend did say her pets went crazy before the quake started. --Beverly


The first earthquake hit at 4:35 am I was in bed when I felt the bed shake. At first I thought it was the near by freight train passing by real fast until I realized there was no train out there. What a weird feeling! --Susan Barkowski


I'm from Marshall about 2 hours north of West Salem. I was asleep and my bed started shaking and I hear the windows rattle - I froze I didnt know if I should wake the kids or not. It seemed like it lasted more than a min. During the 5th tremor that was 4.6 I was on the phone with my brother and heard things rattle before I felt it. --Jessica Swiger


I live in Elgin, I woke up, sitting up, out of a sound sleep and wondered what had woken me up, I didn't find out about the eathquake until I got to work. Also, I talked to my mom, and she said her dog was going crazy, barking, howling, and trying to get her out of bed, and when she did get out of bed, she was off balance, as if the house moved... --Terre

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