Two Strange Quakes Hit Minutes Apart on Missouri’s Southern Border

There's no need to become alarmed, but you might want to know that this week has started out a bit odd in southern Missouri as the New Madrid Fault just released two quakes in a non-typical area along the border only minutes apart.

When I did my daily check of the USGS earthquake site today, nothing was happening in Missouri - that changed at 5:09am

A typical day will see one earthquake per day on average from the New Madrid Fault with shakes originating somewhere near the Missouri boot heel. These two earthquakes were almost directly along the southern middle border of Missouri with Arkansas. The first quake was 2.3 magnitude quake that doesn't appear to be felt by anyone followed six minutes later by a 1.9 magnitude quake. Both quakes have been reviewed and confirmed by a seismologist with the USGS. While the New Madrid Fault is the cause of nearly all quakes in southern Missouri and northeastern Arkansas, the Great American Shakeout reminds us that "Arkansas has hundreds, if not thousands of faults". Most are not believed to be active, but it's entirely possible these two minor quakes might have been associated with one of the others.

What are the chances these minor quakes were foreshocks of a major event?

The USGS says it's true that sometimes there are foreshocks prior to a major earthquake, but there's no way to know that until a main event quake has happened. Anyone that claims minor quakes like this are forerunners of a major New Madrid event are either lying or guessing. I don't want to do either, but I do find these two minor quakes along the southern Missouri border interesting because of how close together they happened. Let's hope there's no larger event to follow them soon.