Minor earthquakes continue to rattle areas around faultline

Arkansas, Tennessee still seeing increased seismic activity in 2024

By Ralph Hardin

news@theeveningtimes.com

While there’s not necessarily any need to panic, the increased frequency of minor earthquakes along and around the New Madrid Seizmic Zone that was observed in late 2023 and early 2024 continues to warrant the keen observation of the United States Geological Survey.

The seismic shifting isn’t limited to the famous Missouri falutline either. In fact, the fourth earthquake to strike the southeastern United States in as many days did so in Tennessee on Sunday.

According to USGS, a magnitude 2.0 earthquake struck south of Greenback, Tennessee at 7:08 a.m. Greenback is located less than 50 miles south of Knoxville and roughly 400 miles east of Arkansas. “The earthquake was too weak to create any damage or injuries,” local officials reported.

The other earthquakes to strike the southeastern U.S. were a magnitude 1.6 event near Glenville, North Carolina on Thursday and two earthquakesSaturday in Elgin, South Carolina.

According to the State of Tennessee Department of Conversation Division of Geology (TNDoCDG), “Few people think of earthquake hazards in Tennessee, yet portions of the state are classified as above average risk areas. The far western part of the state was shaken violently in 18111812, and significant damage from another event is possible in all of West Tennessee. All of East Tennessee lies within an area where moderate damage is possible.” The area of todays earthquake occurred in what’s known as the Appalachian Mountains Faulted Region. According to the TNDoCDG, “there are many faults associated with mountain building episodes that ended more than 200 million years ago towards the end of the Paleozoic Era.” They add, “these faults are no longer active, but even after all this time, stress stored up at a depth in these rocks is periodically released as minor earthquakes.”

Closer to home, minor quakes continue in northeast Arkansas. There was an earthquake on Sunday, March 3 around 11:09 a.m., that reports say could be felt from Blytheville to Paragould to Little Rock. People also reported feeling the quake in Kennett, Missouri.

The earthquake was reported at a 2.3 magnitude by both the USGS and the earthquake tracker with the epicenter located in Gosnell, about 50 miles north of Crittenden County.

A second quake in the area was reported on Friday. According to the USGS report, a 2.0 magnitude tremor was registered at 4:37 a.m., centered near Mintrum, a small community about 20 miles northwest of Jonesboro.

Since Jan. 12, 1982, more than 40,000 events have been recorded along the New Madrid Seismic Zone. Geologists say a magnitude 7.6 earthquake in the area is “likely” to occur within the next 50 to 100 years. Such a quake would cause major damage near the fault system in the Missouri Bootheel, northeast Arkansas and western Kentucky and Tennessee.

Photo courtesy ofUSGS