9 New Madrid Fault Quakes No One Noticed Confirmed by USGS

There's been a sudden uptick of seismic activity along the New Madrid Fault in southern Missouri with a swarm of 9 quakes over just the past few days that nearly no one noticed.

I've been watching the newest flurry of earthquakes along the New Madrid Fault closely over the past week. There were a cluster of 4 quakes that happened almost simultaneously on July 10 alone. Altogether, the tally is now up to 9 New Madrid Fault tremors that have been confirmed by the USGS so far.

Infographic, USGS

The good news is nearly all of these quakes in the New Madrid Seismic Zone have been tiny. The largest was a 2.0 magnitude quake on July 8 which no one reported feeling to the USGS, but it's big upticks in activity like this that I find interesting because they happened and no one noticed.

Could these tiny quakes be a sign that a major New Madrid Fault quake could be imminent?

If someone says yes, they're guessing because there's no way to know if a quake is a foreshock until after a big quake happens. I share this only as a reminder that everyone in southern Missouri lives in one of the most seismically-active regions in the United States. Only California rivals Missouri for the sheer number of earthquakes and there are many seismologists that believe the Midwest is capable of a much larger quake than the West Coast.

While I never want anyone to become alarmed at New Madrid Fault quakes that I share, I do encourage preparedness. Hopefully you never need it, but it's a great idea to at least have an emergency plan that you and your family understand of what you'd do if a major quake were to impact Missouri. If/when it happens, you'll likely get no warning before life in Missouri is changed forever. Let's hope that it's not in our lifetime or our kids either.