Northern Illinois residents may have noticed something amiss as they woke up Wednesday morning as a 3.6-magnitude earthquake occurred just to the southeast of Standard.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the earthquake occurred at a depth of 4.6 kilometers, causing noticeable effects nearby.
Data from the USGS shows that the quake was the strongest the state of Illinois has recorded since at least Sept. 2017, when a 3.8-magnitude earthquake struck near Bellmont. In fact, another earthquake occurred near the same area five years prior to that in 2012, officials said.
In terms of northern Illinois, the earthquake was one of the strongest ever recorded in the northern half of the state.
The title for the strongest earthquake in the northern part of the state belongs to Lockport, which recorded a magnitude-5.1 quake in May 1909.
According to the USGS, that earthquake is the only one ever recorded in Will County.
In all, only eight earthquakes have ever been recorded in the Chicago area:
Local
May 26, 1909: 5.1-magnitude quake 3 kilometers west of Lockport. (Will County)
Jan. 2, 1912: 4.5-magnitude quake 2 kilometers west of Lisbon. (Kendall County)
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Sept. 9, 1985: 3.0-magnitude quake 3 kilometers south of Lombard. (DuPage County)
Feb. 10, 2010: 3.8-magnitude quake 2 kilometers northwest of Lily Lake (Kane County)
Jan. 31, 2012: 2.3-magnitude quake 1 kilometer southwest of Lakemoor. (Lake, McHenry)
June 10, 2013: 2.6-mangitude quake 4 kilometers northeast of Virgil. (Kane County)
Nov. 4, 2013: 3.2-magnitude quake 1 kilometer south of Lyons. (Cook County)
March 25, 2015: 2.9-magnitude quake 3 kilometers west-northwest of Lake in the Hills. (McHenry County)
The strongest earthquake ever recorded that was centered in Illinois occurred in Nov. 1968, when a 5.3-magnitude quake was recorded near Norris City.
Most of Illinois’ earthquakes occur in the southern half of the state near the famed New Madrid fault line. That fault system has caused some of the strongest earthquakes in United States history, temporarily reversing the flow of the Mississippi River and causing tremors that were felt as far away as Washington, D.C.
Contrary to popular belief, there are fault systems in northern Illinois as well, including the ‘Sandwich Fault Zone’ running from DeKalb to Dixon, according to the USGS.
Another fault known as the Peru Monocline runs southeast from Dixon and across the western portions of LaSalle County.
There is a fault zone north of Chicago in an area known as the “Des Plaines Fault Zone,” but that area has not caused significant seismic activity.
