ST. LOUIS — A minor earthquake with a magnitude of 2.4 struck near the Missouri-Illinois border Saturday evening, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. It happened at around 6:00 p.m. Central Time on February 1, with no reports of damage or injuries.
The earthquake’s epicenter was located approximately 2.3 miles south-southwest of Valmeyer, Illinois, and 6.9 miles northeast of Festus, Missouri. The shallow quake occurred at a depth of 3.1 miles below the surface.
The seismic event was part of the Illinois Basin – Ozark Dome region, which experiences moderate earthquake activity. While less frequent than earthquakes on the West Coast, tremors in this area can typically be felt over broader regions due to differences in geological structure.
The quake occurred near the northern border of the New Madrid seismic zone, a historically active earthquake region. The area’s most significant recorded earthquake was a magnitude 5.4 event in 1968, which caused damage in southern Illinois.