Jun 19, 2002 2 min read

EVANSVILLE, Ind. (AP) – A moderate earthquake rattled portions of the Midwest and South on Tuesday, but authorities had no immediate reports of damage. The quake, which struck at 12:37 p.m. CDT, registered a magnitude of 5.0, said John Bellini with the U.S. Geological Survey in Golden, Colo., which tracks earthquakes.

The epicenter was 10 miles northwest of Evansville, Ind., he said.

The quake shook buildings in downtown Evansville and was felt in Indiana as far north as South Bend, about 250 miles away. It also was felt in Illinois, Ohio, Missouri, Kentucky and Tennessee.

“An earthquake of this size can typically crack chimneys, knock things off the shelves, and may crack windows,” Bellini said. “We wouldn’t expect much more than that at the most.”

Officials received calls from people asking about the tremor.

“Most reported a gently rolling motion,” said Greg Steiner, technical director of the Center for Earthquake Research and Information at the University of Memphis in Tennessee. “But up close it was enough to scare people out of buildings and homes.”

Bill Smith, a geophysicist at the Earthquake Information Center, said small earthquakes periodically occur in the Wabash Valley region, but typically are not strong enough to be felt.

“This is much larger than average for the region, but not unprecedented,” Smith said

The strongest earthquake in the last 100 years in the Wabash Valley region happened on Nov. 9, 1968, in south-central Illinois. It had a magnitude of 5.4 and was felt in 23 states.