Small quake strikes near Canalou

A small earthquake shook parts of Southeast Missouri early Tuesday as most people slept, rattling dishes and some homes but causing no damage or injuries, authorities said.

The magnitude-3.7 temblor at about 3:30 a.m. was centered about 15 miles northwest of New Madrid, according to the U.S. Geological Survey's National Earthquake Information Center.

The New Madrid County Sheriff's Department said the quake's epicenter appeared to be around Canalou, a town of about 300, sheriff's dispatcher Mary McMillion said.

Though Anthony Comstock has felt the ground rumble over the years in quake-prone Southeast Missouri, the New Madrid County sheriff's deputy said the Tuesday temblor "hit hard."

The quake awakened Comstock, his wife and their two sons. Comstock even got dressed and hustled outside, thinking the shaking and quaking that lasted only a second or two was a tree that had fallen onto the house -- or perhaps even "an explosion or something."

"The whole house was rumbling," said Comstock, 39. "It's the first time I felt something that strong."

The quake was felt around Sikeston, about 25 miles north of New Madrid, said Capt. Mark Crocker of the Sikeston Department of Public Safety.

"It rattled dishes and stuff like that around the city, and I guess some people did notice it shook their house," Crocker said.