A minor earthquake occurred in Missouri Tuesday, reminding residents that they live in one of the North American continent's most active seismic areas, U.S. officials said. The U.S. Geological Survey said that the epicenter of the magnitude 4.0 earthquake early Tuesday was near the town of East Prairie, Missouri. People in eight surrounding states said that they felt the quake, according to responses to the U.S. Geological Survey website. Damage was minor, such as items falling from shelves, broken windows, and minor cracks in walls and sidewalks. According to the Geological Survey, no injuries were reported. East Prairie City Administrator Lonnie Thurmond said the earthquake lasted about seven seconds. The earthquake occurred along the New Madrid Seismic Zone, a 241-kilometer stretch between Memphis, Tennessee and St. Louis, Missouri. Most earthquakes in the zone are so small that no one feels them. A magnitude 4.0 quake occurs in the New Madrid zone on average about once a year, Bob Herrmann, a Saint Louis University geophysicist, told the Associated Press.
