Quake Hits Near Bull Shoals Lake, But Not New Madrid Fault

Southern Missouri and northern Arkansas are located in one of America's most seismically-active areas, but most of the quakes in that region originate from the New Madrid Fault. Today's tremor near Bull Shoals Lake was an exception.

According to the USGS, this minor quake was centered north/northwest of Bull Shoals, Arkansas next to the lake of the same name at 4:13am local time Wednesday, October 7, 2026.

Infographics, USGS

It's not the size or even the location of this quake that's interesting since it only measured 1.7 in magnitude and Bull Shoals isn't that strange of a location for an earthquake. It's the fact that it likely did not originate from the New Madrid Fault, but ancient geologic faults. I've heard stories that some believe that minor quakes like the one that happened Wednesday could be associated with cave or limestone collapses.

You will rarely see a significant earthquake in northwestern or north-central Arkansas. The largest I can find records of is a 3.6 magnitude quake that was centered near Bergman, Arkansas on June 11, 2017. There is no doubt that a major New Madrid Fault event could be damaging for the Bull Shoals Lake region along the Missouri/Arkansas border, but let's hope we don't see that happen anytime soon.