GUIDE ROCK, Neb. – About 6 miles north of Guide Rock and 13 miles from the Nebraska-Kansas border experienced the strongest shaking from Sundays quake. It begs the question, why are earthquakes pestering Central Nebraska?

"In the central U.S. we're far from plate boundaries, but there are certainly many old faults that can be reactivated," said USGS Research Physicist Oliver Boyd. "Although earthquakes are relatively rare, we do get earthquakes in the central and eastern U.S."

Residents of Guide Rock and surrounding areas experienced the latest Nebraska earthquake on Sunday.

According to the United States Geological Survey, this is the tenth seismic event measuring more than a 2.5 magnitude on the Richter Scale in Webster County this calendar year. 

Sunday's quake measured in at a 4.2 magnitude, the most intense earthquake in Nebraska since 2002. 

A 4.2 magnitude earthquake typically doesn't cause too much damage, and those who felt it around the area described their houses as softly shaking. 

"We tell people to drop, cover, and hold," said Boyd. "If you feel an earthquake drop down between some sturdy object, and you really want to cover your head and hold on until the shaking stops."

Most of the people NCN talked to in town said they either weren't in town on Sunday, or didn't feel it altogether. Just a couple said they felt their houses slightly rattling. 

About 16 miles southwest of the epicenter of the earthquake is the city of Red Cloud. There, multiple residents noticed the earthquake. 

"I went outside and my husband and daughter are standing out in the middle of the yard going through the Christmas lights," said Red Cloud Resident Jennine Schneider. "I said 'did you guys just hit the wall?' They said no, and I said that was really weird because it sounded like somebody hit the side of the house."

The biggest earthquake recorded in Nebraska in the past 60 years was a 5.1 magnitude earthquake the rocked the South Dakota-Nebraska border near Merriman, nowhere near this quake.

Of everyone NCN talked to, no one said they were really concerned about larger earthquakes possibly hitting the area.

"There is more activity in Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas that's relatively recent," said Boyd. "But at this point, we don't see a lot of anomalous activity in Nebraska, but it is something we're paying attention to in the central U.S."

While this was a decent-sized earthquake, no deaths, injuries, or major damage was reported.