Two weak earthquakes hit Arkansas and Tennessee last night and this morning, roughly 50 miles and 7 hours apart. According to USGS, the first earthquake struck near Etowah, Arkansas at 11:12 pm last night from a depth of 11.6 km. The second earthquake struck near Ridgely, Tennessee at 6:08 am from a depth of 6 km. USGS rated both as a magnitude 1.9 event.
This latest earthquake in Ridgley is the fourth to strike the town in the last 2 days. This region, part of an area knows as the New Madrid Seismic Zone, or NMSZ for short, has had 41 earthquakes over the last 30 days ranging in intensity from 1.1 to 3.5 magnitude events.
USGS says that earthquakes with a magnitude of 2.0 or less are rarely felt or heard by people, but once they exceed 2.0 , more and more people can feel them. While damage is possible with magnitude 3.0 events or greater, significant damage and casualties usually don’t occur until the magnitude of a seismic event rises to a 5.5 or greater rated event…