Missouri at Risk? New Madrid Quake Report Raises Alarm

We've known for decades that the New Madrid Fault in southern Missouri could unleash a major quake at any time. A new report shared just days ago claims the "big one" could be close. Should Missouri really be alarmed?

New video raises concerns about imminent major quake along the New Madrid Fault in southern Missouri

Earthly just shared a video 3 days ago asserting that more than 200 quakes have been recorded along the New Madrid Fault meaning that the "big one" could be close. What they don't mention is what time frame those quakes happened during. Weeks? Months? Years?

Is it really true that there have been 200 quakes along the New Madrid recently?

I went straight to the USGS and learned that they have recorded 29 confirmed quakes along the New Madrid Fault in the past 30 days. While that is an uptick over what happened a couple of months ago, that's nowhere near 200 quakes.

It is true that a major New Madrid quake is possible in our lifetime, though...

As St. Charles County, Missouri has documented, there is almost a 10% chance of a 7.5 magnitude quake or larger in the next 50 years. However, there is a 28 to 46% chance of a magnitude 6 or 7 quake in the next 50 years. That large of a quake would be a major event that would do big damage over a large part of the Midwest. Missouri does need to always be earthquake aware and have an emergency plan with family members and/or friends, but there's no need for immediate alarm. There's no way to predict earthquakes as of today, but we need to live like a major New Madrid quake could happen tomorrow - because it might.