OLD MONROE, Mo. — A small earthquake was reported in Old Monroe, Missouri, early Thursday morning.
According to the United States Geological Survey, the earthquake was reported in Old Monroe at about 3:30 a.m. The USGS report said the earthquake was a 2.6 magnitude with a depth of 2.1 kilometers.
The earthquake report said people reported feeling the earthquake as far away as Saint Jacob, Illinois, which is more than 50 miles away.
If you felt the earthquake, you can report it to the USGS by clicking here.
Old Monroe resident Marty Bauer described the quake as "a big boom, like a big clap of thunder." He told 5 On Your Side that he first thought the boom might have been from an accident on Highway 79. "It was enough to wake me up, I'm not a light sleeper, but I'm not a real heavy sleeper either."
No damage was reported in Old Monroe.
Damage would have been unlikely anyway with such a small quake, said Douglas Wiens, Washington University Robert S. Brookings Distinguished Professor of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences.
"2.6 is really small relative to these magnitude 5 or 6 ones that you hear about from California. So when we have these really small earthquakes, they are really only felt very close to the epicenter," Wiens said.
Wiens has studied earthquakes around the world, including the western Pacific and Antarctica. "Usually after an earthquake there are aftershocks," explained Wiens, "but typically the biggest aftershock is about one magnitude lower than the main shock."