I want to remember today

I woke up this morning and turned on the computer just like any other day. I started to brew my coffee and pulled up the Fox News Webpage. The news story jumped out at me like a flashing red light. EARTHQUAKE HITS CHICAGO... Before even taking the time to read the news story I flew to the phone, heart pounding, to call my parents and sisters in Chicago. Come to find out, neither one of my sisters felt the quake and my parents just woke up to a loud BOOM! Once my parents found everything to be in order they went right back to sleep! WOW!
If I had taken the time to read the news story I would have seen that there was no need to panic or call my poor family members at 6am Chicago time but, I guess that is called Hindsight! After everything that just happened in Haiti, I couldn't help but fear for the worst! So VERY THANKFUL that everyone was fine and the earthquake was not a big disaster! Just wakes you up a little to think about all that can happen in one day, one hour, one minute...your whole life can change! So, just for me, give the ones you love a big hug and, call the ones you can't get your arms around because of distance!

GILBERTS, Ill. — A small earthquake woke residents and shook furniture in northern Illinois early Wednesday, causing no major damage or injuries but startling people as far away as Michigan and Iowa.

The epicenter of the 3.8-magnitude earthquake was near the villages of Gilberts and Pingree Grove in Kane County, about 45 miles northwest of Chicago, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The quake hit at 4 a.m. Sheriff's dispatchers and the USGS were flooded with calls from concerned residents.

"It's rare in northern Illinois," USGS geophysicist Amy Vaughan said. "It's downstate where we'd expect the larger quakes and where the larger ones have happened historically."

The USGS initially reported the magnitude as 4.3 but later downgraded it. Vaughan described the shaking as light to moderate.

Residents in Iowa, Indiana, Wisconsin and Michigan also reported feeling the quake, she said.

In Pingree Grove, 43-year-old artist Dan Erman said the temblor moved his bed and woke him.

"I knew it was an earthquake," Erman said. "It was pretty loud. The bed headboard was hitting the back of the wall."

Erman said he heard dogs barking and when he looked outside he saw his neighbors turning on their lights. There was no damage to his home.

Some residential and business alarms were triggered, but deputies weren't called for assistance, Kane County sheriff's spokesman Lt. Pat Gengler said. DeKalb County Sheriff Roger Scott said residents in his area also reported feeling the earthquake, but no damage was reported.

The last earthquake in the area was recorded at a magnitude of 4.2 on June 28, 2004, about 35 miles away from Wednesday's temblor, according to the USGS.