Earthquakes in Illinois

Here in Champaign-Urbana, the central part of Illinois, the major bad weather we get is tornadoes in April.

But in my many years living here, I remember two earthquakes. At 4.37 am, April 18, 2008, we experienced an earthquake, 5.4 on the Richter scale. I had been asleep in my second floor bedroom, and was startled, thinking that my then-101 year old house had collapsed and that my bed and I would end up in the bedroom. The morning news set me straight on the facts.

In the early 1990s, my pre-teen son was playing ball on the front porch one June day. In the kitchen cooking dinner, I felt the entire house shake and scolded my son, telling him to play ball in the backyard instead. That turned out to be an earthquake, also.

What interesting weather stories do you have to share?