Missouri’s 3rd Largest Quake of November on Last Day of the Month

November has been one of the most active months of the year for the New Madrid Seismic Zone in southern Missouri as the 3rd largest quake of the month just happened Saturday night and was felt by many.

I knew something was up when I saw a big red circle in the vicinity of the Missouri Bootheel late Saturday night. Initially it was measured as a 2.8 magnitude quake with an epicenter just north of New Madrid, Missouri, but was revised after being reviewed by a seismologist to a 2.7. It happened at 9:30pm Saturday night, November 30.

According the the USGS "Felt Report", nearly a dozen in New Madrid, Missouri reported feeling this latest shake.

How many New Madrid Fault quakes were there in November?

According to the USGS, there have been a grand total of 30 New Madrid quakes in November. Here's the list of the 5 largest for the month with Saturday night's quake circled.

Clearly none of those quakes are strong enough to do any real damage. But, having nearly a half dozen bigger than 2.5 is a pretty strong month in southern Missouri. Considering the fact that there was a mini-swarm of 5 quakes within only a 2 hour period a couple days ago, it will be interesting to see what the New Madrid Seismic Zone has planned for December.

Many forget that it's Missouri and not California that has the strongest earthquake in history for the lower 48 states (meaning not counting Alaska). That's why we pay attention to active months of seismic activity because you never know when the next big event will be unleashed.