I woke up this morning at about 5:30 local time to the feeling of my bed shaking. I thought at first that it was like that feeling you get when you're "falling" in your sleep, but then I heard my closet doors rattling. I figured at that point that it was just the train yard, so I went back to bed.

When I woke up for the day a little bit ago, I had messages on my computer that I would have never expected. These ranged from "Did you feel the earthquake?", to "Here's a news report about the earthquake you had." The point when I realized this was what I felt was a bit surreal, and I'm still not quite sure what to think of it.

The 'quake was a 5.2 down in south-eastern Illinois, and people as far away as Chicago and Cincinnati reported feeling it. The USGS has some more detail about it, including seismic graphs.

The last earthquake in this area was back in 2000, and was no stronger than a 5.0. I would have been back in Rensselaer then, so I don't remember feeling it. I'm just wondering though, if this increased seismic activity will spur further events in the coming weeks or days.