Latest / The Kevin Stone Podcast / Episode #46 The Earthquake I Completely Missed! | Arkansas Earthquake — October 17, 2026

Transcript

Episode #46 The Earthquake I Completely Missed! | Arkansas Earthquake — October 17, 2026 · The Kevin Stone Podcast

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Some podcasts have experts. This is not one of those podcasts.
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  Speaker 1: This is one guy, a microphone, a cup of coffee,
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  Speaker 1: and absolutely no guarantee where any of this is going.
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  Speaker 1: From small town Arkansas to Washington, D.C., from politics and
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  Speaker 1: current events to history, space, faith, and whatever else happens
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  Speaker 1: to get under his skin. He'll ask the questions. He'll
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  Speaker 1: give you his opinion. And every once in a while,
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  Speaker 1: he might even know what he's talking about. No fancy degree,
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  Speaker 1: no corporate talking points, just an ordinary guy trying to
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  Speaker 1: make sense of an increasingly strange world. Ladies and gentlemen,
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  Speaker 1: this is the Kevin Stone Podcast.
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  Speaker 2: Hello, everybody. Kevin Stone here with you. Thank you for
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  Speaker 2: tuning in to the Kevin Stone Podcast. We're broadcasting to
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  Speaker 2: you today from Studio A of the Kevin Stone Podcast
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  Speaker 2: headquarters located right here in Ozark, Arkansas. And you know
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: something else that happened right here in Ozark, Arkansas? An
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  Speaker 2: earthquake yesterday. An earthquake near Ozark on Saturday, October 17th.
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  Speaker 2: Measured 2.1 on the Richter scale. I didn't feel anything.
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  Speaker 2: I didn't hear anything. Didn't notice anything. My reaction to
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  Speaker 2: it is kind of like, what? We had an earthquake here?
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  Speaker 2: I mean, I didn't know anything about it until I
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  Speaker 2: saw something on Facebook today. And, you know, I expect
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  Speaker 2: storms here, tornadoes, ice. But an earthquake? Really? Not something
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  Speaker 2: we really talk about much here. And it kind of
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  Speaker 2: made me curious. I mean, where was it? How strong
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  Speaker 2: was it? And why here? So I decided to take
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  Speaker 2: a look at it, decided to go dig into it
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  Speaker 2: a little bit. And sure enough, let's look at where
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  Speaker 2: this thing happened at. On Saturday, October 17, 2026, at
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  Speaker 2: approximately 4.47 in the afternoon, a small earthquake was recorded
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  Speaker 2: in western Arkansas. The University of Memphis Earthquake Monitoring Center
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  Speaker 2: reported a preliminary magnitude of 2.14, which we're just going
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  Speaker 2: to say is 2.1. But the University of Memphis Earthquake
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  Speaker 2: Monitoring Center, who.
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  Speaker 1: Would have thought?
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  Speaker 2: Who would have thought we'd have had an earthquake monitoring
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  Speaker 2: center in Memphis? The earthquake's reported location was, okay, we've
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  Speaker 2: got some latitude and longitude numbers here, but it was
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  Speaker 2: about 11 miles southwest of St. Paul, Arkansas. The earthquake
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  Speaker 2: originated approximately almost 8 miles beneath the Earth's surface. The
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  Speaker 2: epicenter is just a point on the surface directly above
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  Speaker 2: where the earthquake began. So it was almost 8 miles
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  Speaker 2: below a point almost 11 miles southwest of St. Paul, Arkansas.
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  Speaker 2: No injuries or damages were reported. Now, what exactly does
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  Speaker 2: magnitude 2.1 mean? An earthquake's magnitude measures its size based
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  Speaker 2: on seismic recordings. The magnitude scale is logarithmic. Why do
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  Speaker 2: they put words up here that they know I'm not
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  Speaker 2: going to be able to pronounce? That means each increase
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  Speaker 2: of one whole magnitude number represents approximately 10 times times
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  Speaker 2: greater recorded wave amplitude and about 32 times more energy released.
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  Speaker 2: For example, a magnitude 3 earthquake releases roughly 32 times
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  Speaker 2: as much energy as a magnitude 2 earthquake. A magnitude
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  Speaker 2: 4 releases approximately 1,000 times as much energy as a
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  Speaker 2: magnitude 2. An earthquake measuring 2.1 is considered small and
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  Speaker 2: frequently goes unnoticed by people, although someone close to the
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  Speaker 2: epicenter may occasionally feel it. The fact that we didn't
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  Speaker 2: feel Saturday's earthquake doesn't mean it didn't happen. Sensitive scientific
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  Speaker 2: equipment can detect ground movement far too small for most
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  Speaker 2: people to notice. And apparently so, because I didn't notice anything.
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  Speaker 2: When I think of an earthquake, I think of California.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, somewhere along the tectonic plates. I wouldn't imagine
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  Speaker 2: it being right here in Arkansas. I mean, now Arkansas
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  Speaker 2: does have the New Madrid fault line, which it's up
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  Speaker 2: in northeastern Arkansas, northeast Arkansas, southeast Missouri. 1811, 1812 had
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  Speaker 2: a major earthquake that I've heard all the stories of
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  Speaker 2: the Mississippi running backwards. Caused a lot of damage. I mean,
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  Speaker 2: we already have... We have severe weather. We have tornadoes.
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  Speaker 2: We have hail, high winds. In the wintertime, we get
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  Speaker 2: snow and ice. But I didn't realize that Arkansas deals
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  Speaker 2: with earthquakes. And apparently, they don't need to be near
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  Speaker 2: the tectonic plate boundaries. So here's a little bit about
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  Speaker 2: what's going on underneath Arkansas. Earthquakes occur when stress builds
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  Speaker 2: up in the Earth's crust and rocks suddenly slip along
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  Speaker 2: a fault. That movement releases energy, which travels through the
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  Speaker 2: ground to seismic waves. Although Arkansas is far from the
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  Speaker 2: edge of a major tectonic plate, the state contains faults
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  Speaker 2: and ancient geological structures that can experience stress and movement.
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  Speaker 2: One of the best-known earthquake regions in the central United
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  Speaker 2: States is the New Madrid Seismic Zone. This zone extends
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  Speaker 2: through portions of northeastern Arkansas, southeastern Missouri, and surrounding states.
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  Speaker 2: Between December 1811 and February 1812, the New Madrid region
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  Speaker 2: experienced three exceptionally powerful earthquakes, along with numerous smaller events.
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  Speaker 2: Those earthquakes were felt along large portions of the eastern
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  Speaker 2: United States and caused significant damages to the landscape around
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  Speaker 2: the Mississippi River. However, the small earthquake recorded near Ozark
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  Speaker 2: on October 7th should not automatically be attributed to the
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  Speaker 2: New Madrid seismic zone. They are geographically separate areas, and
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  Speaker 2: identifying the cause of a particular earthquake requires geological evidence.
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  Speaker 2: Imagine living in Arkansas, though, in 1811. No earthquake alerts,
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  Speaker 2: no television, no modern scientific instruments, no smartphones going off
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  Speaker 2: letting you know of any kind of event like that.
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  Speaker 2: Imagine experiencing a major earthquake without understanding what was happening.
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  Speaker 2: They didn't know why the ground was shaking. Could you
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  Speaker 2: imagine that? Of course, now, Saturday's was a 2.1. That
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  Speaker 2: doesn't mean it's not dangerous, though. I mean, I don't
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  Speaker 2: want to sit here and kind of downplay it. But
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  Speaker 2: there's a serious question we should ask. Should we actually
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  Speaker 2: be worried? A magnitude 2.1 earthquake is a minor seismic event,
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  Speaker 2: and no injuries or damage were reported from Saturday's earthquake.
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  Speaker 2: One small earthquake does not, by itself, mean a large
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  Speaker 2: earthquake is about to occur. Scientists can estimate earthquake hazards
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  Speaker 2: over time, but they cannot reliably predict the exact date, location,
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  Speaker 2: and magnitude of a future earthquake. The recommended safety procedure
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  Speaker 2: during earthquake shaking is called drop, cover, and hold on.
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  Speaker 2: If you're indoors, drop to your hands and knees, take
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  Speaker 2: cover beneath a sturdy table or desk if one is nearby,
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  Speaker 2: and hold on until the shaking stops. If you're outdoors,
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  Speaker 2: move away from buildings, trees, and power lines and stay outside.
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  Speaker 2: If you're driving, pull over safely away from bridges, overpasses,
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  Speaker 2: and other hazards and remain in the vehicle until the
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  Speaker 2: shaking stops. Earthquake preparedness is sensible, but Saturday's small event
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  Speaker 2: is not a reason to panic. Now, I'm just going
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  Speaker 2: to let you know right now, if it starts shaking
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  Speaker 2: in here, the old Kevster here is going to take
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  Speaker 2: a run outside. I know it just got through saying
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  Speaker 2: that you're not supposed to run outside and everything, but
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  Speaker 2: I'm just telling you, Kevin Stone is not sitting here
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  Speaker 2: broadcasting to everybody that you need to run outside. In
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  Speaker 2: the event of an earthquake here in Arkansas, that is
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  Speaker 2: not what I'm saying. What I am saying is that
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  Speaker 2: Kevin's going to run outside. I'm not going to stay
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  Speaker 2: here and wait for this house to collapse in on me.
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  Speaker 2: Of course, I've never experienced anything like that. I'm not
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  Speaker 2: from California, so Kevin's going outside. I'm just letting you
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  Speaker 2: know right now. So, to recap here, apparently we had
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  Speaker 2: a 2.1 magnitude earthquake Saturday near St. Paul, which is
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  Speaker 2: not too far away from where I am now. Yours
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  Speaker 2: truly missed the whole thing. Didn't even know it happened.
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  Speaker 2: A Facebook post sent me down an interesting research rabbit hole.
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  Speaker 2: Pretty much. I didn't know anything. Arkansas has more geological
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  Speaker 2: activity than most people realize. I didn't realize it. And I, well,
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  Speaker 2: I haven't actually lived here all my whole life, but
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  Speaker 2: I was born and raised here. Been back here in
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  Speaker 2: Ozark for seven years now, eight years now. And I'm, yeah,
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  Speaker 2: learning something about your own backyard is worth sharing. So
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  Speaker 2: here's the deal. Did you feel it? If you felt
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  Speaker 2: Saturday's earthquake, I want to hear from you. Where were
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  Speaker 2: you at? You can put, you can leave comments on
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  Speaker 2: the YouTube video. You can leave comments on the podcast sites.
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  Speaker 2: I invite comments from Ozark, St. Paul, Franklin County, surrounding communities.
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  Speaker 2: I want to know, did you feel it? And if
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  Speaker 2: you did, how was it? Thanks for watching, everybody. I
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  Speaker 2: need to remind you that you can find the Kevin
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  Speaker 2: Stone Podcast on YouTube, on Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Spotify, Spreaker,
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  Speaker 2: and Amazon Music. Appreciate you spending a little bit of time.
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  Speaker 2: There it is right there. You can find the Kevin
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: Stone Podcast on YouTube, Amazon Music, iHeartRadio, Spotify, Apple Podcasts,
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: and Spreaker. See, that's why I've got the little podcast
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  Speaker 2: chief of staff. His name's Charlie. Keeps me updated on
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  Speaker 2: things like that. Apparently, even when things are quieter on Ozark,
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  Speaker 2: there's still something going on beneath our feet. Check on
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  Speaker 2: your neighbors, man. Take care of each other. I'll talk
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  Speaker 2: to you next time.
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  Speaker 1: Push the right button, dummy.