USGS Confirms Swarm of 8 Earthquakes in the New Madrid Region

I have checked Missouri earthquakes daily for years and I can never remember more tremors clustered together than what's just happened in the New Madrid Seismic Zone. There have been at least 8 earthquakes along the fault just over the past day and all have been confirmed by the USGS.

Here's the very busy USGS earthquake map today

Infographic, USGS

Here's a list of all of the southern Missouri quakes with the newest listed first. Notice that they vary wildly in strength. The largest magnitude registered so far is 2.2 and the smallest 1.3.

Infographic, USGS

Does this mean a major New Madrid Fault quake event is imminent?

The simple answer is we have no way to know. However, whenever I see activity along the New Madrid Fault that's unusual, I tend to pay closer attention to what might follow. I have had contacts in the past with the USGS, so I'll reach out and see if they have any additional information on what this might mean (if anything). The good news is that all of the quakes are small and very few were even felt.

This new New Madrid Fault activity is one of the reasons why you must have an emergency plan ready in the event that a major quake event happens. We'll likely get absolutely no warning when/if it ever does. Know what you and your loved ones would do if supplies and transportation routes were disrupted for a significant period of time. Let's hope this huge uptick in quakes isn't a prelude to something worse. I will add that there's no reason for alarm right now. Just be prepared and you'll be fine.