16 Normal New Madrid Missouri Quakes in October & 5 That Were Not

What is normal activity for the New Madrid Fault in Missouri? You could argue that many of the 16 earthquakes that happened in October in this seismically-active area was typical, but there were 5 events that were not.

Since I'm a self-professed earthquake nerd, I like to make monthly assessments about what the New Madrid Seismic Zone in southern Missouri is up to. According to the USGS database, there were 20 total quakes with none registering any magnitude that would be considered concerning. But, there were 5 earthquakes that happened in somewhat odd places.

Just over a week ago, there were 2 notable strange quakes that were felt in the Bull Shoals Lake area of southern Missouri. After sharing details of that, I had a nice note from a lady who was driving a bus in that part of the state and claims she felt those quakes and it caught her by surprise since there aren't typically earthquakes there.

Just yesterday, there was a somewhat strange 2.0 quake felt in a southern Illinois farm field, too.

There were also a couple of quakes to the southwest of Poplar Bluff in October which once again isn't unprecedented, but it also isn't the norm for the New Madrid Seismic Zone.

All things considered, there's nothing that happened in October as far as Missouri earthquakes are concerned that should cause any alarm. I've learned over the years to expect the unexpected when it comes to the New Madrid Fault and I'll rarely be disappointed.