[Just mythoughts]

First report I heard said it was in Mt. Carmel where the shaking took place.... Curious there is a West Salem involved, and maybe it is a common occurrence for the earth to shake in this area, but I do not recall anything this size in my lifetime. There is to be a huge shaking near another Mt. Carmel and near the area of another Salem yet future.

[topher]

The AP news article via Yahoo:

5.2 earthquake rocks large region of Midwest -- http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080418/ap_on_re_us/midwest_earthquake

The report is out of West Salem, Illinois, and the claim, from the AP article, is that the epicenter was 6 miles from West Salem...

[topher]

After researching via the USGS (United States Geological Survey), Mount Carmel (Illinois) was near the epicenter of the earthquake. This is much closer than West Salem (Illinois), but maybe West Salem (Illinois) is a larger geographical area.

For info on the earthquake:

Magnitude 5.2 - ILLINOIS: 2008 April 18 09:37:00 UTC -- http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/eqinthenews/2008/us2008qza6/

7 km (5 miles) NNE (13°) from Bellmont, IL
9 km (6 miles) E (88°) from Bone Gap, IL
11 km (7 miles) N (350°) from Keensburg, IL
60 km (38 miles) NNW (331°) from Evansville, IN
206 km (128 miles) E (95°) from St. Louis, MO

[topher]

Apparently, Mount Carmel did get quite a bit of shaking.

It is the most populated area (7,000 people) to feel almost the full force of the earthquake.

Here is an image from USGS of the intensity.

Mount Carmel is in the VI area -- the most violent for this earthquake.