Two earthquakes struck southern Missouri today, including one near New Madrid, home of a violent string of earthquakes that struck the United States in 1811 and 1812 and reversed the direction of water flowing down the Mississippi River. Fortunately, today’s earthquakes were relatively weak, with only a dozen reports of shaking received by USGS. However, today’s two earthquakes are among 20 that have hit the region in the last 30 days.
The first earthquake hit roughly 2.5 miles outside of New Madrid at a depth of 13.7 km. According to USGS, that earthquake, which struck at 6:48 am this morning, only was measured as a 1.7 magnitude event.
The second earthquake was many times stronger. It hit at 3:34 pm this afternoon, less than 7 miles southeast of Williamsville, Missouri. That earthquake, rated as a magnitude 2.7 event, struck at a depth of only 4.2 km. Today’s 2.7 magnitude event is the strongest of the 20 earthquakes to hit the area over the last 30 days.
While none of the earthquakes in the last 30 days were large enough to create any damage at this time, scientists are concerned that people aren’t prepared for when a big earthquake will strike this region. December 16 marks the anniversary of the first of three major quakes to strike the United States during the winter of 1811-1812, a violent time in seismological history of the region that scientists say will be repeated again.
While the US West Coast is well known for its seismic faults and potent quakes, many aren’t aware that one of the largest quakes to strike the country actually occurred near the Mississippi River. On December 16, 1811, at roughly 2:15am, a powerful 8.1 quake rocked northeast Arkansas in what is now known as the New Madrid Seismic Zone. The earthquake was felt over much of the eastern United States, shaking people out of bed in places like New York City, Washington, DC, and Charleston, SC. The ground shook for an unbelievably long 1-3 minutes in areas hit hard by the quake, such as Nashville, TN and Louisville, KY. Ground movements were so violent near the epicenter that liquefaction of the ground was observed, with dirt and water thrown into the air by tens of feet. President James Madison and his wife Dolly felt the quake in the White House while church bells rang in Boston due to the shaking there.
But the quakes didn’t end there. From December 16, 1811 through to March of 1812, there were over 2,000 earthquakes reported in the central Midwest with 6,000-10,000 earthquakes located in the “Bootheel” of Missouri where the New Madid Seismic Zone is centered.
The second principal shock, a magnitude 7.8, occurred in Missouri weeks later on January 23, 1812, and the third, a 8.8, struck on February 7, 1812, along the Reelfoot fault in Missouri and Tennessee.
The main earthquakes and the intense aftershocks created significant damage and some loss of life, although lack of scientific tools and news gathering of that era weren’t able to capture the full magnitude of what had actually happened. Beyond shaking, the quakes also were responsible for triggering unusual natural phenomena in the area: earthquake lights, seismically heated water, and earthquake smog.
Residents in the Mississippi Valley reported they saw lights flashing from the ground. Scientists believe this phenomena was “seismoluminescence”; this light is generated when quartz crystals in the ground are squeezed. The “earthquake lights” were triggered during the primary quakes and strong aftershocks.
Water thrown up into the air from the ground, or the nearby Mississippi River, was also unusually warm. Scientists speculate that intense shaking and the resulting friction led to the water to heat, similar to the way a microwave oven stimulates molecules to shake and generate heat. Other scientists believe as the quartz crystals were squeezed, the light they emit also helped warm the water.
During the strong quakes, the skies turned so dark that residents claimed lit lamps didn’t help illuminate the area; they also said the air smelled bad and was hard to breathe. Scientists speculate this “earthquake smog” was caused by dust particles rising up from the surface, combining with the eruption of warm water molecules into the cold winter air. The result was a steamy, dusty cloud that cloaked the areas dealing with the quake.
The February earthquake was so intense that boaters on the Mississippi River reported that the flow of the water there reversed for several hours.
The area remains seismically active and scientists believe another strong quake will impact the region again at some point in the future. Unfortunately, the science isn’t mature enough to tell whether that threat will arrive next week or in 50 years. Either way, with the population of New Madrid Seismic Zone huge compared to the sparsely populated area of the early 1800s, and tens of millions more living in an area that would experience significant ground shaking, there could be a very significant loss of life and property when another major quake strikes here again in the future.
The renewed activity around the New Madrid fault area does not appear to be related to an ongoing earthquake swarm in South Carolina. There, since December 2021, more than 40 earthquakes have rocked central South Carolina, with several stronger earthquakes felt and measured in recent days. Scientists say the distance between the New Madrid-area earthquakes and those of Elgin, South Carolina are too far apart to be related.
