A moderate earthquake with a magnitude of 5.0 occurred at 1:37 Eastern Standard Time on June 18, 2002 about 10 miles from Evansville, in southwestern Indiana. Moderate damage consisting of broken windows, cracked chimneys, and objects thrown from shelves was reported from the epicentral area. The earthquake was felt in parts of Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio, and West Virginia. Numerous reports of mild shaking were received from southwestern Ohio, particularly the Cincinnati area, and as far east as Columbus. No damage was reported from Ohio. The event was widely recorded across the state by the Ohio Seismic Network.
A 3.9-magnitude earthquake occurred in this same area on December 7, 2000. The epicentral region is on the northern end of the well-known New Madrid seismic zone and is in the general area of a 5.5-magnitude earthquake in southern Illinois in 1968. Several institutions have deployed portable seismographs in the epicentral area in order to record small aftershocks.