3.8 magnitude earthquake rattles Mid-South

Activity along New Madrid faultline picks up in recent weeks

By RALPH HARDIN

ralphhardin@gmail.com

There are fewer than 300 people in the rural community of Etowah, about 40 miles north of Marion, but all of them got a little shook up on Wednesday when the largest earthquake since 2012 rattled the area around the New Madrid Seismic Zone.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) registered the epicenter of the tremor just outside of Etowah, which is between Jonesboro and Blytheville in Mississippi

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County.

The earthquake struck about 11:45 a.m., and was felt across Northeast Arkansas and into West Tennessee.

Some reports of shaking were reported to the USGS from as far away as the Memphis metropolitan area.

While a 3.8 magnitude quake is relatively weak when compared to other earthquakes, seismic waves from these earthquakes in this part of the country can travel longer distances and be felt further away.

Wednesday’s earthquake was the 7th minor quake recorded along the infamous faultline this month. It’s the strongest earthquake reported in the area since a 3.9 magnitude quake struck near Bertrand, Missouri in February of 2012.

The Mid-South sits near the heart of the New Madrid Seismic Zone and earthquakes like this are fairly common, though usually less than 2.0 magnitude.

No damage or injuries have been reported.

A looming threat

Experts have warned for decades that a large swath of the central U.S. is at high risk for a devastating earthquake.

They know that overcoming complacency is among their biggest hurdles. Hundreds of experts devoted to earthquake preparedness gathered Thursday in St. Louis to discuss risks, preparedness strategies and recovery planning.

Though U.S. quakes are most commonly associated with the West Coast, the New Madrid Fault Line centered in southeast Missouri produced three large earthquakes 200 years ago.

People in the region have heard so many warnings about the next Big One that, for many, it goes in one ear and out the other.

But experts warn there’s a 7-10 percent chance of a magnitude 7.0 or greater earthquake in the next 50 years in the New Madrid zone.

The Great Shake Out

While there is usually little to no warning that an earthquake is about to strike, there are ways to be prepared in the event that one does occur. Events such as the Great Shake Out, held annually each October, are aimed at helping folks to be prepared and know how to react during an earthquake.

“Drop, cover, and hold on” is the mantra experts preach to teach the proper self-protection technique in the event of an earthquake.

To protect yourself in an earthquake experts say you should drop to the ground onto your hands and knees, cover your head with your arm, and get under a table or desk and hold on to it until the shaking stops.

“There’s a possibility that it could happen. Of course we don’t want it to happen. We don’t want it to happen for another thousand years. The possibility that it could happen and because there’s a possibility it could happen, we want our citizens to be prepared,” Brenda Jones, Shelby County Emergency Management director said at last October’s Great Shake Out.

For area residents, the reality it that it’s a matter of “when” nor “if” a major earthquake will occur any time in the next 50 to 100 years. The New Madrid Seismic Zone is the most active seismic zone east of the Rockies.

Hundreds of earthquakes happen each year within the zone that stretches from southern Illinois down to Mississippi but many can’t be felt.

In 1811, a magnitude 7.2–8.2 earthquake hit the Mid-South. The last major earthquake in Memphis was in 1865. That was a 5.0 magnitude quake. In 1976, a 5.0 earthquake was recorded in Poinsettia County, Arkansas.

Jones said there’s no telling when another earthquake will happen but it’s important to be prepared regardless.

This USGS data map shows all of the seismic activity along the New Madrid Faultline in the past 30 days, including Wednesday’s 3.8 magnitude quake that is not only the largest quake recorded of the nine but also the closest to Crittenden County, about 40 miles away.

Photo courtesy of USGS