New Madrid Fault Quakes Surged in November, 2 in Weird Places

The month of November was an interesting one near the New Madrid Fault in southern Missouri, but not because of the increasing number of quakes. It was the odd location of two in particular that deserve a deeper dive.

The USGS map shows all of the confirmed earthquakes in the New Madrid Seismic Region from November 1 through November 30, 2025

Let's get something out of the way from the start. According to the USGS, there were 31 confirmed earthquakes along the New Madrid Fault in November and that's completely normal, if a bit more active than normal. It's not unusual for that area to average around a quake a day. There were several mini-swarms which included 9 quakes in 4 days in the middle of November, but the total number of tremors in the month averaged out like usual.

There were two specific New Madrid quakes in November that were in non-typical locations. There was a 1.9 magnitude quake on November 2, 2025 near Cape Girardeau. The day prior on November 1, 2025 was a more significant 2.6 magnitude quake near Poplar Bluff. More than a dozen people confirmed to the USGS that they felt that quake.

All that being said, a couple of quakes in strange places in Missouri during November is actually normal also. That's one thing to keep in mind for anyone that leaves near the New Madrid Fault. It's very active and can be unpredictable. Not every quake happens in the Missouri boot heel. Doesn't it just figure that an earthquake fault in Missouri with weird behavior is par for the course?