Earthquake reported in Somonauk, felt across region

SOMONAUK – Somonauk Police Chief Bill King said he could immediately tell that the strange sound he heard in the early morning hours wasn’t a byproduct of severe weather that had passed through hours before – it was an earthquake.

“A lightning strike, you get that big bang of thunder and you get this big jump and a scare, and then you realize what it was. This kind of came from down below you might say, and actually rumbled,” King said.

What King, and many in DeKalb and La Salle counties experienced shortly before 3 a.m. Monday was an earthquake that was recorded about a mile northwest of Somonauk, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Many likely woke to a loud boom or their home shaking as the 3.4 magnitude earthquake struck at 2:53 a.m. It was reportedly 6 miles in depth, according to the USGS.

“It almost sounded like a garbage truck was right beside our house, churning its load getting ready to take off,” King said.

The DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office shared the USGS findings in an early morning Facebook post. Nearly eight hours after the earthquake, County Sheriff Andy Sullivan said his office had not received reports of injuries or significant property damage from the earthquake.

“We did have some folks that were working overnight, obviously, and they firsthand witnessed the earthquake, so they were aware of that,” Sullivan said. “But we have not received any reports of damage from that, thankfully.”

The earthquake caused windows to rattle in Sycamore, and was reportedly also felt in Kane and Kendall counties, and as far away as Boone and Lake counties, according to the USGS.

King, a Sandwich resident, said he could hear his home shake from the earthquake.

“I felt it, kind of heard it you-might-say, shake the house,” King said.

The Somonauk Police chief said he’s not aware of any injuries or property damage within the village – the closest municipality to the earthquake’s epicenter according to the USGS.

Damage from another force of Mother Nature was present come Monday morning, though.

DeKalb County and much of northern Illinois was battered by significant storms late Sunday, bringing heavy winds up to 70 mph in some areas. A tornado warning was issued for eastern and central DeKalb County and into neighboring Kane County as heavy rain pelted DeKalb, Cortland and Sycamore, according to the National Weather Service.

“I think we had more done probably by storm that went through, of some winds and various other things that got blown around a little bit, and a few wires down here and there,” King said. “[Somonauk is] relatively untouched, that I’m aware of, for the earthquake.”

This story was updated at 2:23 p.m. Monday, July 15, 2024. Additional updates could occur.