New Madrid Quake Hits Where Historic Sand Blows Happened in 1811

Something just happened in a place where one of the most impactful earthquakes in history shook Missouri in 1811. I'm probably one of the few that noticed that a tiny quake was just confirmed by the USGS in the same location where sand blew out of the ground more than 200 years ago.

Let me begin by saying that while I find this interesting (and hopefully you do, too), this earthquake is no reason for alarm. The USGS has confirmed that a mammoth (*sarcasm*) 1.6 magnitude quake was recorded Wednesday, November 6 at 5:40am. Didn't feel it? Of course you didn't. Even a farmer standing right on top of the epicenter near Point Pleasant Township in Missouri wouldn't feel a thing. But, the location is very historic.

If you look at the epicenter for today's tiny quake from above, you'll notice that it's located where sand blows happened during the historic New Madrid quakes in December of 1811.

The USGS says this about the sand blows you can still see across Missouri:

"During the 1811 and 1812 earthquakes, liquefaction and resulting lateral spreading was severe and widespread. Sand blows formed over an extremely large area about 10,400 square kilometers."

They go on to add that "sand blows appear as light-colored sandy patches in plowed field" and they are numerous in Missouri to this day.

No, the 1.6 quake today did no damage obviously and was felt by no one. It's just a reason to look back at the remnants of those huge 1811 and 1812 quakes that are still present with us today. It's a reminder of the insane effects of those big quakes that literally caused what looked like sand volcanoes to erupt from the ground.