Missouri Shook in August – See Last 31 Days of New Madrid Quakes

It's hard to judge the status of what's happening in southern Missouri along the New Madrid Fault by looking at just one day. That's why when a new month starts that I like to take a look back at the past month of seismic activity and Missouri sure was shaking a lot in August.

If you're interested in earthquakes, I've done some homework for you. I queried the USGS database and asked it to show me all of the earthquakes along the New Madrid Seismic Zone from August 1 through August 31. This includes all magnitudes that have been confirmed by a USGS seismologist.

From August 1, 2024 through August 31, 2024, there were a grand total of 32 measurable quakes linked to the New Madrid Fault. The good news is none were even big enough to be considered moderate. The largest were a pair of 2.5 magnitude quakes on August 4 and August 13.

The most unusual quake in August was the 2.4 confirmed near Enfield, Illinois. All things considered, it was a rather normal month along the New Madrid Seismic Zone in Missouri. I'm certainly no USGS expert, but I like to see a decent amount of activity to see the energy along fault released instead of having it go silent and then unleashing a major event. Once again, that is not expert analysis, but there is some thought that earthquake faults do build up energy over time. The USGS even said this and the British Geological Society said "stored-up 'elastic strain' energy in the form of seismic waves" can cause more dangerous quakes.