Saying that the largest confirmed quake of the year along the New Madrid Fault just happened doesn’t mean much when you’re only 3 weeks into 2025. But, this was a quake in a remote area south of St. Louis that was large enough to be felt late Monday night.
As I was doing my daily check of what the New Madrid Fault is up to on the USGS earthquake page, I noticed a quake in a non-typical part of Missouri. It wasn’t in the Missouri bootheel like we typically see, but was in an area nearly halfway between St. Louis and Cape Girardeau.
This 2.4 magnitude quake was reportedly felt and happened at 11:13pm late Monday night near Ozora, Missouri. It has been officially reviewed by a seismologist and confirmed by the USGS. A quake this small is really no big deal and would not have done any damage even if it happened in the heart of St. Louis, but it’s interesting simply because of its location. It’s not like we never see New Madrid Seismic Zone quakes in this part of Missouri, but we don’t see them often…