Missouri New Madrid Quakes Since 2000? The Number is Mind-Blowing

It's not a revelation that the New Madrid Fault that shakes Missouri is a seismically-active part of America, but how active is it really? I did some research to count the number of earthquakes in this region for the past nearly 24 years and the number is mind-blowing.

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I don't recommend you ask your device to calculate the number that I just did from the USGS unless you'd like your laptop to melt. I did a custom search using their tools and asked their database to calculate the number of New Madrid, Missouri earthquakes since January 1, 2000. Here's the staggering result.

That's a grand total of 8.527 earthquakes along the New Madrid Fault. The largest in the area of Missouri I selected was a 4.7 earthquake that struck on February 28, 2011. I was surprised to see the number of quakes larger than 4.0 in magnitude over the past 24 years in Missouri. The list goes on further than I have room to show.

One interesting thing I learned from this ill-advised earthquake curiosity is how far north the New Madrid Fault can affect as there was a 3.1 in Hermitage, Missouri way back in 2001.

What does this really mean for the future in Missouri?

Since I received a B- in science in school, I'm not sure I should be the authority. But, common sense says that if you live near the New Madrid Fault, have a plan of what you'd do if a major quake hit. It's really a matter of when and not if.