Small 2.4M quake shakes south St. Louis County
FENTON, Mo. -- A small earthquake shook parts of south St. Louis County before dawn Friday. The U.S. Geological Survey reports a magnitude 2.4 quake at around 5:27 a.m., centered southeast of Fenton. The quake originated roughly 10 miles deep.
Quakes of this size are typically felt as brief, light shaking near the epicenter and rarely cause damage. In the central and eastern U.S., however, shaking can travel farther than in the West; tremors around magnitude 4.0 can be felt up to about 60 miles away, and stronger events can carry even farther.
Friday’s tremor happened in the Illinois Basin/Ozark Dome region, which borders the more active New Madrid seismic zone. Small earthquakes occasionally occur in this area. The largest one was a magnitude 5.4 that damaged parts of southern Illinois in 1968.
Help the USGS with their earthquake report. If you felt this quake, submit a “Did You Feel It?” report.
