Earthquake Shakes Western Kentucky, No Injuries Reported

(BARDWELL, Ky., June 6th, 2003, 10 a.m.) -- A light earthquake shook portions of western Kentucky early Friday, authorities said.

The 4.5 magnitude quake occurred shortly before 7:30 a.m. CDT Friday with its epicenter one mile south of Blandville in Ballard County, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Ray Bowman, spokesman for the Kentucky Division of Emergency Management, said he had no reports of injuries.

The quake apparently was felt most in portions of western Kentucky and southern Illinois hugging the Mississippi River.

In Carlisle County in western Kentucky, the quake cracked sidewalks, broke windows and knocked pictures off walls, said Donna

Laird, the county's emergency management director.

Telephone service was disrupted in the towns of Arlington and Berkeley, she said. Laird said she had no reports of power outages.

"I left my house in tatters. I had everything on the floor," said Laird, who lives in Bardwell, about five miles west of the epicenter.

The county's 911 system went down temporarily when it was inundated with calls from residents, she said.

State police in Mayfield also received calls from people in Ballard and Hickman counties reporting the earthquake.

(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)