UNION COUNTY — A small earthquake was detected in southern Illinois early Monday morning.

The 2.1 magnitude tremor occurred at 2:52 a.m. in Union County near the Mill Creek community, 6 miles south of Anna-Jonesboro and 14 miles east of Cape Girardeau.

It’s the first detected tremor in southernmost Illinois since a 2.2 quake was centered under the Ohio River at Olmsted on December 10.

A more active quake zone in Illinois has been south and west of Mt. Vernon, where three tremors of 2.3, 2.5, and 3.1 have been detected in March and April.

If you feel like you have heard about more earthquakes recently, you may be right. According to the United States Geological Survey, multiple earthquakes have hit the region recently.

Since January 1st the USGS has reported 70 earthquakes ranging around the New Madrid fault line. Illinois is at risk from two major seismic zones, the Wabash Valley Seismic Zone and the New Madrid Seismic Zone.