Thanksgiving morning brought an unusual occurrence: earthquakes from the New Madrid Fault were recorded in both southern Missouri and central Mississippi.
A quick glance at the USGS earthquake page revealed something surprising. While a quake near Missouri’s Bootheel isn’t unusual, seeing another centered in Mississippi at the same time certainly caught my attention.
The Missouri quake, a magnitude 2.1, struck at 2:33 a.m. on Thursday, November 28. Meanwhile, an hour earlier at 1:33 a.m., a 2.5 magnitude quake was recorded near Jackson, Mississippi.
Digging deeper, I discovered that Mississippi’s last recorded earthquake occurred three years ago, in 2021. A historical map of quakes in the state shows they’re quite rare.
Interestingly, the New Madrid Fault extends further south than I realized, reaching into Mississippi’s central region. While neither quake was strong enough to cause damage, the USGS confirmed that some Mississippi residents did feel the tremor.
It’s rare to see simultaneous quakes in Missouri and Mississippi from the New Madrid Fault, making this an unusual way for it to say, “Happy Thanksgiving.” Let’s hope there’s no larger event waiting in the wings.