Latest Arkansas Earthquakes Rattle Memphis

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Four earthquakes in 8 hours were recorded in Arkansas Sunday night and Monday morning.

In Brief:
-Four earthquakes between 11:01pm CT Sunday and 7:06am CT Monday
-Seismic activity centered around Greenbrier and Guy, Arkansas
-No injuries reported
-Recent Arkansas earthquakes not a sign of larger, New Madrid earthquake

FOX13 received calls into our newsroom from viewers who said they felt those Arkansas quakes.

The first recorded one was Sunday night at 11:01pm. The U.S. Geological Survey said it was a 4.7 magnitude earthquake near Greenbrier, 35 miles north of Little Rock. 18 minutes later, close to the same area, a 3.8 magnitude quake hit, followed by one that was 3.6 magnitude at 2:46am. At 7:06am Monday a fourth earthquake hit, registering at 3.2.

The earthquakes got the attention of people living in the area, with calls flooding into local 911 dispatchers.

OPERATOR: "Conway 911. What is your emergency?"
CALLER: "Hey, my house - I'm on Remington Road - my house just shook really bad."
OPERATOR: "Yes, it probably was an earthquake."
CALLER: "God, I didn't know they were coming this far!"
OPERATOR: "Do you have any damage or anything?"
CALLER: "No, it just scared me real bad."

The good news is no one was hurt in any of the earthquakes.

Communities On Alert

It makes you wonder if Mother Nature is a calendar watcher. Nearly 200 years after the New Madrid earthquake forever changed the Mid-Western landscape, a series of smaller earthquakes in Central Arkansas since February has residents jittery. And, it should put those living along the New Madrid fault on the alert again.

Since last September, the folks around the central Arkansas communities of Greenbrier and Guy have been standing on shaky ground ever since a swarm of earthquakes, including four in the last 24 hours, have created rumblings felt in four states and the city of Memphis.

"This is where these earthquakes have been happening. The yellow ones are older, the blue ones in the last week, the red ones in the last day," explained Steve Horton, seismic researcher with the University of Memphis, pointing to a display of the earthquake activity. "It happened at 11 o'clock last evening. It was magnitude 4.7. That's the largest earthquake in this sequence that's been happening recently."

"These swarms are an unusual thing and nobody really knows precisely why there are earthquake swarms. But, they happen on a fairly regular basis - by regular, I mean over decades of time," added Steve Masler, Manager of Exhibits at the Pink Palace Museum. The museum's Restless Dynamic Earth display includes a new digital helicorder that documents almost every earthquake in the world.

More Earthquakes to Come?

With the other three earthquakes respectively measuring 3.8, 3.6 and 3.2, no serious injuries or damages have been reported. But, it has given research scientists like Steve Horton at the University of Memphis Seismic Resource Center a lot data about the possibility of a previously unknown fault line emerging north of Little Rock that could measure four miles long and range in depth from 3 to 7 kilometers.

"It's possible there will be larger earthquakes than even the 4.7 that we've had in this area," Horton predicted.

Horton speculates there might be a strong cause and effect reasoning behind this recent earthquake swarm and the 2009 drilling and placement of soft water disposal wells in the area. But, Horton notes as far as Memphis is concerned and the still ominous specter of its location along the famed New Madrid Seismic Zone, this latest outburst isn't going to draw any earthquake doomsday for us any closer - as scary as that prospect already is.

"Having earthquakes over here is no indication that we're going to have more intense activity on the New Madrid Seismic Zone," Horton stated.

"People in Arkansas are feeling a lot of it right now. In Memphis it should be a wake-up call for us about what could happen," Masler added.

Being Prepared

So what happens if a large scale earthquake does hit the Mid-South? Experts say the first 72 hours will be the most critical time.

Tuesday on FOX13 News at 9 and 10, find out what you need to have on hand to keep you and your family safe.

That's '72 Hours,' a special report by Les Smith, tomorrow night on FOX13 News at 9 and 10.