MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE — Two earthquakes have struck the New Madrid Seismic Zone within 48 hours, rattling communities across southern Illinois and southeastern Missouri and raising urgent questions from residents throughout the region.
A Magnitude 3.5 earthquake struck southern Illinois on Monday near the Paducah, Kentucky corridor. Less than 24 hours later, a Magnitude 2.9 earthquake hit southeastern Missouri, closer to the Jonesboro, Arkansas area. Both quakes occurred along the same fault system, which cuts diagonally through Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Arkansas.
Major population centers, including Memphis, Jackson, and Paducah, all sit within or directly adjacent to this active fault corridor…