Earthquake Shakes Missouri Bootheel, Residents Report

One of the stronger quakes of the year so far rattled the Missouri bootheel and the USGS has confirmed that many residents reported feeling it.

According to the USGS, an earthquake centered in the Missouri bootheel not far from Steele, Missouri happened Tuesday morning at approximately 7:04am

While it was one of the stronger New Madrid Seismic Zone quakes recorded so far this year, it was still only minor registering 2.6 on the Richter Scale according to a review by USGS seismologists. The Acorn Corner area not far from Steele and Cooter, Missouri is a frequent spot for New Madrid Fault activity.

Why share a relatively minor earthquake like the one that happened in southern Missouri Tuesday morning?

That's a valid question and here's something I'd like you to consider. Just to the northeast of where this Tuesday quake was centered is the Caruthersville Bridge which is a frequently-traveled transportation point connecting Missouri and Tennessee. In the event of a major New Madrid Fault quake, this bridge would almost certainly be unusable for a period of time.

If you live in this part of Missouri and rely on this bridge regularly, what would you do if it were unpassable for days, weeks or months? That's a question you need to be able to answer as many in Missouri do that would be directly affected by a major New Madrid quake. No, that major quake has not happened in our lifetime and hopefully never will, but we all still need to have an emergency plan ready in case this 2.6 magnitude quake were to become something much larger. It could happen today.