1 of New Madrid’s Larger 2024 Quakes Just Shook a Missouri Field

I can see the memes now. We shall rebuild. That's the likely response of the internet today with news that one of the larger quakes in 2024 along the New Madrid Seismic Zone just quietly shook a Missouri field today.

No, this quake did no damage to say the least. Frankly, I doubt anybody felt it. However, the USGS has confirmed a 2.4 earthquake centered underneath a farm field just to the northeast of Wilson City, Missouri Monday morning.

This is where the "epicenter" was located. It's basically a farm field in this very rural part of southeast Missouri.

The USGS has confirmed that the 2.4, while not even close to a major (or moderate) quake, was one of the largest measured so far in 2024.

It's quakes like this that are some of the most interesting to me. It's not the typical sub 2.0 magnitude quakes that are located just south of the Bootheel in Missouri. It's not that strange either as Wilson City, Missouri is barely a hop, skip and a jump from New Madrid itself. This is one of the many recent quakes along the New Madrid Seismic Zone that seem to be centered much closer to New Madrid, Missouri proper.

Does this rather small, but noticeable quake really mean anything? Likely no. Earthquake science is still very inexact. I pay attention to every single New Madrid area quake to try and gain a better understanding of trends and what the fault might be doing in the near future.