USGS Confirms Three Earthquakes in the New Madrid Zone

Missouri is one of the most interesting seismically-active areas in the United States. The region near the New Madrid Fault can be silent for days if not weeks and then suddenly there's a flurry of activity. That happened Thursday morning as the USGS has confirmed a trio of quakes have been recorded in southern Missouri.

As I was doing my daily check of the USGS earthquake site, I noticed several new reports from Missouri

Infographic, USGS

These 3 earthquakes have all happened within the last 24 hours centered near Steele and Matthews, Missouri and Ridgely, Tennessee right across the Mississippi River. The good news is all of these tremors were minor only registering in the mid 1-2 magnitude range and barely strong enough to be felt if at all.

Infographic, USGS

While this trio of New Madrid Fault quakes is nothing to worry about, it will be interesting to see if there are more tiny quakes to come or if this mini-swarm are it. It certainly is worth keeping an eye on to see if this will be a real uptick in southern Missouri quake activity or a typical one-off little jump up of movement. We've learned over the years how unpredictable the New Madrid Seismic Zone is and that does include the possibility of a major event at some point in the future. That's why it's a good idea to have an emergency plan ready in the event that you need it someday. Let's hope that never happens.