This article describes an unusually well-behaved, unusually welldocumented central and eastern United States (CEUS) earthquake sequence. Detailed analysis of regional and local waveform data from the 6 June 2003 Bardwell, Kentucky, earthquake indicates that the mainshock has the seismic moment of M 0 1.3 )5.0ע( ן 10 15 N m (M w 4.0) and occurred at a depth of about 2 )1ע( km on a near-vertical fault plane. A temporary seismic network recorded 85 aftershocks that delineate an east-trending fault approximately 1 km in length. The hypocenters illuminate a vertical plane between 2.0 and 2.7 km depth. The centroid of the aftershock distribution is at 36.875Њ N, 89.010Њ W and a depth of 2.4 km. The aftershock cluster is interpreted as a circular fault area with a radius of 0.44 )30.0ע( km. This source radius yields a static stress drop, Dr ס 67 )41ע( bars for the mainshock. The focal mechanism for the mainshock has strike ס 90Њ, dip ס 89Њ, and rake ס 561מЊ with a subhorizontal P axis trending 135Њ. A formal stress inversion based on the focal mechanisms of the mainshock and ten aftershocks indicates the maximum compressive stress trends 104Њ with a plunge of 5Њ. The local stress field near Bardwell is therefore rotated about 40Њ clockwise relative to 65Њ for eastern North America as a whole. The Bardwell earthquakes have the opposite sense of slip to earthquakes with east-trending nodal planes that occur near New Madrid, Missouri. This requires a significant local rotation of the stress field over a distance of 60 km.