DECATUR - Residents in Decatur and across the Midwest were jolted awake early Friday morning.

At 4:37 a.m., a 5.2 magnitude earthquake was reported. The quake's epicenter was near Mount Carmel and West Salem in the southeastern part of the state, but shaking was reported states away.

Some Decatur residents said they had never heard of or experienced earthquakes in the Midwest, but more than 30 quakes have been recorded in Illinois, according to United States Geological Survey reports. The last Illinois quake was in the mid-1980s, and the magnitude of Friday's earthquake was one of the most severe to occur in the state's history.

Despite the morning's shaky awakening, Friday remained "pretty quiet" in Decatur, said John Weibull, Emergency Service Director for the Mid-Illinois Chapter of the American Red Cross. He received no reports of any local damage or calls for Red Cross assistance.

"My bed was just shaking a little bit," Meggie Gaddy, 10, said. The Decatur girl was so rattled by the earthquake that she ended up leaving her room to sleep in the hallway of her family's home.

Meggie also recalled feeling the aftershock that occurred at 10:15 a.m. when she was sitting at her computer and her chair began shaking.

"Those should decrease quite a bit in the next hours to days," Timothy Larson, a geophysicist and licensed professional geologist for the Illinois State Geological Survey, said of aftershocks such as the 4.5 magnitude one Meggie and others throughout the region felt.

The magnitude of an earthquake is recorded as the amount of energy released during the event. A second measurement is intensity, which depends on factors such as distance from the epicenter, soil type and the building, he said.

Larson said damage is unlikely in Decatur and surrounding communities, but people with older brick buildings or chimneys, which are more susceptible to earthquake damage, might want to check those structures for cracks.

"Those kinds of effects are in buildings that, if you were in the building when (the earthquake) occurred, you would have felt it shaking," Larson said.

Earthquakes such as Friday morning's

are "typical events," for the area, Larson said, and they occur every 20 years or so.

"I'm really impressed at the emergency service response," he said, adding that the country's emergency response as a whole has strengthened since the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Because earthquakes can't be predicted the way storms can, preparedness is important, Weibull said, stressing the importance of home disaster preparedness kits.

Families also should have a meeting place to gather and ensure personal safety after the imminent danger of a disaster is over, he added.

During an earthquake, occupants of a home should stay inside and seek shelter by bracing in an interior doorway or seeking cover beneath a sturdy table or desk, according to Red Cross literature. Make sure to stay away from windows and exterior doors, Weibull said. If outside, people should stay away from tall objects such as buildings, poles and chimneys, and drivers should pull over in a safe, open area.

Following an earthquake, homeowners are advised to use flashlights to check the appliances and utilities in and around their dwellings for damage or leaks.

Weibull said that even close to the epicenter of Friday's earthquake, only minor damage had been reported, with no damage reported locally. He said the Red Cross is ready, should needs for its assistance arise.

According to a State Emergency Operations Center report issued at 11 a.m. Friday, possible damage was reported in Wabash, Edwards, Lawrence and Hamilton counties.

The Illinois Emergency Management Agency, Illinois State Police and Illinois Department of Transportation were sent in to assess damage in Southern Illinois, according to a news release from Gov. Rod Blagojevich's office.

State agencies reported little or no damage in the State Emergency Operations Center's morning report.

None of Exelon Corp.'s six Illinois nuclear energy stations were affected by the earthquake, the company said Friday.

Station operators and technical experts conducted extensive preplanned inspections after the tremors. The Clinton Power Station is the closest to the epicenter, about 140 miles north of West Salem.

Annie Getsinger can be reached at agetsinger@herald-review.com or 421-6968. Staff Writer Chris Lusvardi contributed to this article.