Minor earthquake rumbles northeast AR Wednesday afternoon

A minor earthquake, centered just southwest of Trumann, AR, occurred at 3:10pm CDT Wednesday afternoon. The epicenter of the magnitude 3.2 quake was 44 miles northwest of downtown Memphis and it’s depth was 8.5 miles below the earth’s surface. According to the USGS, “weak shaking” was felt by a number of individuals in the immediate vicinity of the quake, but it was not felt even in nearby Jonesboro. The location is on the southwest tip of the New Madrid Fault zone which extends from this area northeast into the A short video of the location of the quake with respect to the Memphis metro is shown below (Flash required), or click here for a direct link to the video.

The USGS “Did You Feel It?” map is below, showing the latest reports of where the quake was felt, and how strongly.

Though difficult to read, a helicorder (device used to measure ground shaking) just west of Trumann, AR picked up the earthquake. The helicorder plot below is read left to right, top to bottom, with each new line colored alternating colors (green, black, red, blue) and each line representing 15 minutes. The black squiggles circled in yellow began at 3:10pm CDT and indicate the shaking occurring from the Trumann quake. The helicorder readout shown below is operated by the Center for Earthquake Research and Information at the University of Memphis. Click the image for a full size view.

Helicorder display from a station just west of Trumann, AR. The shaking from the Trumann quake is easily seen.

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