The Minonk area was jolted by an earthquake whose epicenter was 40 miles north near Ottawa. The quake
registered a 4.5 on the richter scale and was along the Sandwich fault which runs north and south through
north central Illinois.
People in the Minonk area were awaken at 1:30 a.m. by the earthquake tremors. People reported closet doors
and windows rattling and objects were shaken off of tables.
Minonk resident Christina Jenkins said "the earthquake scared the heck out of me! I thought the toilet was
going to shake loose from the floor! I was woke up when my cat started acting more nuts than
usual. Come to think of it, he had been acting STRANGE prior to this too.
I thought at first a car hit the house, then I thought maybe a plane crashed, and looking outside
proved neither. I had things in the house that rattled and shook, it was scary! Things on the
piano fell over..... Well, there was no sleep to be had after that
excitement. It was a long night that's for sure!"
Initial reports indicated no major damage from the tremor, although police agencies and radio
stations within the quake area were inundated with telephone calls.
Police in Ottawa area, which is near the epicenter, reported
more than 200 calls from residents in a short period of time, all of them wanting to know what
had happened. A lot of them seemed to think a truck had crashed into their house.
