I was awoken this morning at 5:37am by a 5.2 magnitude earthquake in southern Illinois. Nothing appears to be broken and everyone is ok.

This was the first time I have every been able to feel an earthquake and it was very cool (because no one was hurt). The bed vibrated rhythmically with enough force to wake me up (though oddly not enough to disturb Libby). It was as if the house was on top of a clothes dryer. I could hear a constant grumbling sound, like a mellow clap of thunder lasting for about 20 seconds. Then it was over and everything was silent again.

UPDATE: Early this afternoon I (and my co-workers) felt another aftershock. It was milder and shorter than the initial tremor, but still surprisingly strong for how far away the epicenter was.