Earthquake is talk of the town in St. Louis

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Damage was light, but the chatter nonstop in St. Louis on Friday after a magnitude 5.2 earthquake centered 130 miles away rocked the Gateway City.

Residents told and retold their stories, trying to make sense of an experience they only previously remembered from when they were kids, or not at all.

The quake at 4:37 a.m. originated near West Salem, Ill., but to those shaken awake, it hit close to home.

The fact that no damage or injuries were reported in the St. Louis region left many here almost ebullient as they wondered at the force of nature that created such an unusual start to the day.

From radio broadcasts to coffeeshop banter, the earthquake was the talk of the town. Did it wake you? Were you scared? What did you think it was?

Those who didn't immediately figure out it was an earthquake at first thought it was an arriving storm, neighborhood toughs, heavy trucks rolling past or someone -- though who? -- running through the house.

At Mokabe's Coffeehouse in south St. Louis, Michele Turner, 36, of Shrewsbury, said she heard the window rattling and thought it was a storm rolling past. A few minutes later, when she got a text message from a friend -- "Did you feel that?" -- she realized for certain it was an earthquake.

Turner has felt earthquakes before, as a child in St. Louis and on a trip to San Diego, when one knocked her out of bed. In that case, she admitted, she momentarily thought she'd been visited by a ghost.

Her partner, Melissa Weidetz, 30, grew up in California and has experienced more than a few earthquakes. As a result, she didn't quite understand all the fuss. "It's sort of bringing a little bit of home here," she said.

The two, after reassuring their 9-year-old daughter that everything was OK and going back to sleep, took an earthquake quiz online to see if they knew what to do when one hit. They scored a 6 out of 10, but said they learned a lot.