Sudden Uptick of New Madrid Quakes Near New Madrid, Missouri?

With the New Madrid Fault Zone practically in my backyard (regionally speaking), I pay very close attention to seismic activity in this volatile part of Missouri. I noticed something interesting that's just started happening over the past 30 days and that's the fact that quakes in the New Madrid Fault Zone tend to be happening very close to New Madrid, Missouri itself.

I look at USGS earthquake data for the New Madrid Fault Zone about every 30 days or so. Normally, you'll see quakes along the New Madrid happen all over the region including down into the middle of Arkansas and even in Tennessee. When I ran a report today, I noticed that almost all of the 27 quakes that have occurred during the last month have been centered very close to the heart of the fault.

There's no reason for alarm that I can see as none of these New Madrid, Missouri quakes have been even moderate in strength and very few have even been large enough to be felt by anyone. However, it's an interesting trend to me that so many are happening near where the historic 1811 and 1812 New Madrid quakes happened.

While I am no geology or earthquake expert, I do have friends and acquaintances that are. They have taught me not to look at individual quakes as a sign of warning, but instead trends. And, I find this trend of New Madrid quakes happening close to New Madrid, Missouri curious. Let's hope that it's just a curious trend and not a forewarning of pressure building near the heart of this dangerous Missouri fault system.