Do We Have Earthquakes In Louisiana?

Can Earthquakes occur in Louisiana? The short answer is yes and it's happened before.

My kids and I were watching the news coverage of the California earthquakes yesterday and my daughter Khloe asked me, "Dad can we have an earthquake here?"

I answered in confidence, "No baby, Louisiana doesn't have any fault lines in our state."

I was wrong.

That question stuck with me this morning, and I had to do some research. What I found blew my mind. Not only has Louisiana had earthquakes, but it happens way more often than I ever could've imaged.

According to geologists, earthquakes in our state of 5.0 or less on the Richter Scale every five years should be seen as a common occurrence.

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This was a surprise to me. Did you know in the last year, Louisiana has had two earthquakes and one of those quakes was a 4.6 magnitude in Grand Isle?

Bruce Mikells of 93.7 FM The Dawg in Lafayette writes:

However, an earthquake in the state may not be as big of a concern as an earthquake north of the state in Southern Missouri or Northern Arkansas along the New Madrid Fault. Geologists believe a major earthquake along that faultline could and will eventually happen. Should that occur the push of water down the Mississippi River could create catastrophic flooding all the way to the Gulf of Mexico.

There are actually two fault lines in Louisiana defined as the Baton Rouge Fault System.

Below are more resources if you want to do some research on your own: