8 New Madrid Quakes Followed by Tremor Under Mississippi River

This has already been a fascinating week of seismic activity along the New Madrid Fault in southern Missouri. After a swarm of 8 tremors that were confirmed on Monday, there is now a quake that was centered directly below the Mississippi River.

Since I often get accused of fear-mongering (normally by those who don't actually read what I write), let me be clear that what I'm sharing today is not necessarily meaning that the New Madrid Fault is preparing for the big one. My goal is the opposite of making you afraid and instead helping you understand the ebb and flow of seismic activity in southern Missouri and how interesting it can be. This is a perfect example of that. This is the tremor that just followed a swarm of 8 that happened Monday along the New Madrid Fault.

The USGS just confirmed this quake today directly under the Mississippi River near Portageville, Missouri

Infographic, USGS

The good news is this was only a minor quake that registered a magnitude of 2.2 on the Richter Scale. So far no one has reported feeling it because of course they didn't. If it's not a big deal, then why share it? I spend quite a bit of time on YouTube and I often see doom and gloom videos from many who claim the New Madrid Fault is about to unleash a major quake even though there's no scientific way to predict earthquakes accurately. I like to get ahead of those people and help everyone understand that while the New Madrid Fault has some of the most fascinating and unusual seismic activity in America, the likelihood of a major quake happening in our lifetime is still relatively low. It's only about a 7 to 10% chance of a magnitude 7 or greater quake in the next 50 years.

What I also recommend is that you need to live like it could happen today or tomorrow because it can. Know what you and your family would do if you didn't have access to stores or bridges for days if not weeks. If (and that's a key word) a major New Madrid quake happens, we'll likely get zero warning. Let's hope that warning is never needed.