33 New Madrid Quakes Shake Missouri in May Including Biggest One

The New Madrid Fault began 2024 rather quietly, but has made up for lost time as the month of May has seen 33 quakes already shake southern Missouri including the biggest earthquake of the year so far.

The USGS has quite a database of earthquakes that have been felt in May in southern Missouri and northern Arkansas. I queried their records and asked for a map that shows all of the New Madrid quakes of all magnitudes that have been felt in May of 2024. It revealed a grand total of 33 quakes in the month so far.

The biggest Missouri quake of May 2024 by far was the shaker that happened in the morning hours of May 16 registering a 3.8 on the Richter Scale and was felt by several hundred people in southern Missouri.

Does this uptick in earthquake activity in Missouri in May mean a larger quake is just around the corner?

While there's no way at this point to forecast future earthquakes, it's believed the release of energy along fault lines could actually relieve pressure building up on these pressure points on these earthquake faults. The USGS does say that the New Madrid is capable of a 7.7 magnitude quake at some point in the future. The experts say there's a 10% chance the New Madrid Fault will have a major quake above 7.0 magnitude in the next 50 years.

Let's hope this very seismically-active month of May in Missouri is an indication a bigger quake will be later rather than sooner.