This has been a year of strange earthquake locations in Illinois and Missouri already. Saturday night was no exception as a not insignificant quake was confirmed by the USGS to shake the southeastern part of Illinois.
Since I check the USGS earthquake page several times every day, I get used to where earthquakes are common and where they are not. I can count on one hand the number of occasions when this part of Illinois has had a measurable quake. The USGS seismologists have confirmed there was a 2.4 magnitude quake centered near Enfield, Illinois at approximately 10:03pm Saturday, August 10.
This was likely not a New Madrid Seismic Zone event, but the Wabash Valley Seismic Zone instead. As Wikipedia mentions, there is geological evidence that there has been a quake as large as a 7.0 magnitude shaker or perhaps even a 7.5 in this region. I’ve seen some speculation that the Wabash Valley Seismic Zone might be capable of an even larger quake than the New Madrid Fault.
The good news is a 2.4 is not capable of any level of damage and virtually no one has reported feeling it as of this writing. Still, it’s an interesting geological event in what’s already been a compelling seismic year in Illinois and Missouri.
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Simulation Shows the Terror of a 7.7 New Madrid Quake in Missouri
Illinois has seen more tornadoes in 2026 than in any year on record.
Following several more tornadoes confirmed this week across the state, Illinois has recorded 143 tornadoes so far in 2026, beating the previous record of 142 tornadoes set in 2024. With reliable records dating back to 1950, Illinois averages just 54 tornadoes per year. But in recent years, the state has experienced many more:
2023: 121
2024: 142
2025: 126
2026: 143 and counting
Unlike 2024, when a record two-day tornado outbreak accounted for a large share of the year’s tornadoes, the activity in 2026 has been spread out across several months.
On Thursday, June 11, a tornado outbreak brought at least 21 confirmed tornadoes to northern Illinois and northwest Indiana, 13 of them in Illinois. Two tornadoes that day — in Streator, Illinois, and Hebron, Indiana — reached rare EF-3 intensity, with winds over 135 miles per hour. Numerous injuries were reported from the storms, but there were no fatalities.
Confirmed tornadoes from June 11:
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Long Point to Streator, IL: EF-3
Wenona/Osage Township, IL: EF-1
Graymont to Dwight, IL: EF-1
Lee, IL: EF-U
Harpster to Elliott, IL: EF-0
Pembroke Township (Leesville), IL: EF-U
St. John to Schererville, IN: EF-0
Paxton/Loda, IL: EF-1
Merrillville to Hobart, IN: EF-2
Ludlow, IL: EF-1
Cedar Lake, IN: EF-0
Schneider to Hebron, IN: EF-0
Watseka, IL: EF-0
Hebron to Kouts, IN: EF-3
Wellington/Prairie Green Township, IL: EF-1
Bartlett, IL: EF-1
Boswell to Atkinson, IN: EF-1
Ade to Mount Ayr, IN: EF-0
Naperville to Lisle, IL: EF-0
Hickory Hills to Garfield Ridge: EF-2
Morocco, IN: EF-0
Though most of the Chicago area dodged severe weather from storms this week, the National Weather Service confirmed a brief tornado touchdown Wednesday night in Lake County near Grayslake. The EF-0 tornado had estimated winds of 80 miles per hour and was on the ground for about a quarter-mile. Damage consisted of several downed or split trees and sporadic minor roof damage along a narrow corridor in the Saddlebrook Farms subdivision.
Four more tornadoes were confirmed Wednesday in western and central Illinois. NWS crews are still surveying damage in central Illinois, and more tornadoes may be added to the count in the coming days.
With 143 tornadoes so far this year, Illinois leads the nation in tornado count for the third time in the last four years — a remarkable statistic for a state not typically thought of as being in Tornado Alley.
The recent increase in tornado activity across Illinois and the Midwest fits research showing a shift in tornado-favorable environments away from parts of the traditional Plains Tornado Alley and farther east into the Midwest and South. Climate change is one likely factor, as warming temperatures are expected to make the Plains hotter and drier overall, shifting tornado ingredients eastward toward the Mississippi River.
BEECHER CITY, Ill. (WAND) – Farms were damaged in Effingham County Wednesday evening when a powerful storm swept through at around 8 p.m.
The McKay Farm in Beecher City was heavily damaged when the rapidly moving storm hit.
“Two buildings were totally destroyed,” Dan McKay told WAND News on Thursday. “We’ve got five grain bins and they’re all damaged.”
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The buildings collapsed onto farm equipment and a semi that were parked in the structures. A utility pole was snapped and ripped out of the ground.
In nearby Shumway, another farm was hit. A barn collapsed, with a grain bin being ripped apart and debris traveling several hundred feet through a nearby corn field. A house on the property was also damaged.
