Missouri Danger? Over 400 Quakes Along New Madrid Fault in 2022

I've done some earthquake map and learned that there have been more than 400 earthquakes along the New Madrid Fault so far in 2022. But, does this mean Missouri is in danger? Spoiler Alert - No, it really doesn't.

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The New Madrid Fault Zone is a fascinating area to watch if you're interested in seismic activity. There's almost always some movement happening, but most of the time it's nothing major. Here's the shake map for this year so far. Notice how a majority of the activity is in the Missouri bootheel.

Even with this high number, there have only been a handful stronger than 3.0 on the Richter Scale.

This doesn't mean there isn't some new concern about what the growing number of quakes could mean. The Courier & Express reported that the Missouri Earthquake Summit in 2022 concluded that there was too much complacency about the New Madrid Fault dangers. Their concluding statement is alarming saying that the chance for a devastating quake along the New Madrid is "similar to California". Yikes.

They said "Matthew Clutter, a FEMA operational planner, said a magnitude 7.7 earthquake in the New Madrid zone could displace nearly 850,000 people in up to eight states."

Still, the fact that there have been over 400 quakes along the New Madrid Fault Zone this year is only interesting and not really imminently concerning. It's good to remember that we do live in a seismically-active area capable of great destruction, but no need to lose sleep over the possibility. Best to not be complacent about the possibility either though.