MISSOURI — When most people think of earthquakes, they think of California fault lines. But the most active earthquake zone east of the Rocky Mountains runs straight through the middle of the country — including parts of Missouri.
The New Madrid Seismic Zone stretches across southeastern Missouri, northeastern Arkansas, western Tennessee, western Kentucky and southern Illinois. It quietly produces hundreds of small earthquakes every year, most too weak to be felt.
Scientists say the same fault system is capable of generating far more powerful earthquakes — including some of the strongest ever recorded in the continental United States.
Major cities affected by the region’s seismic risk include Memphis, St. Louis, Little Rock and Evansville.
The earthquakes that are still remembered
The New Madrid Seismic Zone is best known for a massive earthquake sequence that struck between December 1811 and February 1812…