New Madrid Quake Hits South of St. Louis—No One Noticed

This is a great example of nature happening and life just continues on like normal. Today, there was a confirmed earthquake just south of St. Louis, Missouri, but no one seemed to notice.

As I was checking earthquake activity on the USGS earthquake site this morning, I noticed an alert a little further north in Missouri than I'm used to seeing. It was centered on the Illinois side of the river just south of St. Louis near Valmeyer, Illinois confirmed by the USGS to be a 2.0 magnitude shaker.  I'm not great converting UTC time to Central Time, but I believe this small New Madrid quake happened late Sunday night.

Notice on the right side of that graphic, that no residents reported feeling it. I know what you're probably thinking. It was only a 2.0 magnitude quake so of course no one felt it. I'm honestly surprised that it has gone unreported since it's so close to St. Louis and right across the river from Festus, Missouri. No, it's not a major quake to say the least, but I've seen some quakes as small as magnitude 1.5 in the boot heel get reported to the USGS. Perhaps that part of Missouri is more accustomed to quakes and knows a tiny tremor when they feel one.

My point is Missouri is one of the most seismically-active states in America and these minor quakes happen all the time. As you go about your day, sometimes the ground underneath you is moving. Fortunately, we've yet to experience the major event that we've been warned about for decades. Hopefully, it stays that way.