Beautiful, eerie Reelfoot Lake in west Tennessee

Residents of the Jackson Purchase experienced a small quake Wednesday morning. The 2.5 magnitude quake hit the Mississippi River five miles west of Bardwell Kentucky. Shown below - Carlisle County and the Mississippi River.

Dishes rattled within ten miles of the epicenter. The shake was a reminder that the New Madrid Fault is still active. Predictions of a major quake surface from time to time. Even though few think of the center of the US as an active quake zone, the New Madrid Fault has brought devastation in the not so distant past.

According to the USGS in Memphis TN

"The New Madrid seismic zone of southeast Missouri and adjacent States is the most seismically active in North America east of the Rockies. During the winter of 1811-1812 three very large earthquakes devastated the area and were felt throughout most of the Nation. They occurred a few weeks apart on December 16, January 23, and February 7. Hundreds of aftershocks, some severely damaging by themselves, continued for years. Prehistoric earthquakes similar in size to those of 1811-1812 occurred in the middle 1400's and around 900 A.D. Strong, damaging earthquakes struck the southwestern end of the seismic zone near Marked Tree, Arkansas in 1843 (magnitude 6.3), and the northeastern end near Charleston, Missouri in 1895 (magnitude 6.6). Since 1900, moderately damaging earthquakes have struck the seismic zone every few decades. About twice a year people feel still smaller earthquakes that do not cause damage."