The New Madrid Fault Seems Obsessed with Cooter, Missouri

There are New Madrid Fault earthquakes that are concerning and then there are New Madrid Fault tremors which are just weird. This is that second one. For some reason, the New Madrid Fault seems obsessed with Cooter, Missouri and I can prove it.

As I've mentioned before, I check the USGS earthquake map every day and sometimes multiple times per day. Lately, I have noticed something peculiar (not the Missouri town, though) about New Madrid Seismic Zone activity. Multiple times over the past week, I've noticed tiny quakes in or near Cooter, Missouri. Here are a couple over just the past couple of days.

No, these are not major quakes and wouldn't even be considered moderate in strength. There have been a 2.6 magnitude quake today and a 2.2 tremor earlier this week. I've seen a few of these Cooter, Missouri quakes be reported to the USGS that they've been felt, but not many. I wish I had been keeping track of all the Cooter quakes over the past week, but my rough estimation is there have been at least half a dozen in or near good ole Cooter. You might remember there were also a cluster of quakes near Cooter back in late October.

It's not exactly a big mystery why Cooter sees its fair share of earthquakes. It is, after all, located near the bottom of the Missouri boot heel which is the most active area of the New Madrid Seismic Zone. Still, it seems that the fault seems particularly interested in Cooter for some reason. There are some good folks that call this part of Missouri home. Hopefully it won't be on the receiving end of a non-minor event soon.