Valley residents react to quake

Aurora 911 center 'inundated'

Skyscrapers shook in Chicago, while residents near Champaign felt their houses tremble. But many Fox Valley residents slept right through one of the strongest earthquakes to ever hit Illinois. 

The 5.2 quake struck near West Salem around 4:37 a.m., and its effects were felt as far away as Milwaukee. Brothers Jim and Harry Coulos of Geneva were awoken by the earthquake, but both described the vibrations as minor.

“I felt the bed shaking for no reason,” said Jim Coulos. “Nothing broke, it was just a light shake.”

Pam Jarke of Geneva felt the quake as she got ready for her early-morning shift at Mel’s Diner in Geneva. She’s usually up at 3:30 a.m., and she said she was in the bathroom when the walls and sink started to shake.

“I thought maybe it was starting to storm,” she said. “But then I checked the news 10 minutes later, and they said it was an earthquake.”

But many people, like Ivan Rivas of Aurora, snoozed right through it. And because the quake caused very little immediate damage, even near its epicenter, many didn’t know it had happened until they switched on their televisions or computers.

“I read about it online after I woke up,” Rivas said. “I didn’t know it had happened.”