Unusual Missouri Quake Felt By More Than a Dozen Tuesday Night

There's no real reason for alarm, but there was a larger than usual quake along the New Madrid Fault in Missouri late Tuesday night that was reportedly felt by more than a dozen residents.

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According to the USGS, an earthquake was reportedly felt by 18 residents at approximately 8:48 pm Tuesday night, October 3, 2023.

A 2.9 earthquake is nothing serious at all, but it is larger than the typical 1.0 to 2.0 range that are common in that part of Missouri. This one in particular was centered directly south of New Madrid, Missouri.

It's worth mentioning that for every number that an earthquake is measured on the Richter Scale, that's another magnitude of 10 stronger. So a 2.9 is 10 times stronger than a 1.9 quake which is common in the New Madrid Fault region. That's likely why we are seeing more than a dozen say they felt this quake while a 1.9 would probably go completely unnoticed.

The USGS says there's almost a 50% chance that the New Madrid Fault will experience a 6.0 quake or greater in the next 50 years. There's a 10% chance a major jolt measuring between 7 and 8 could strike the area in the next 50 years. That translates into the necessity to pay attention to this kind of activity along the New Madrid Fault while not overreacting over relatively small tremors like the one that hit Tuesday night.