This is from Friday, Oct. 22, 1999 ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

Two small quakes shake up northeast

KENNETH HEARD
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

MIDDLEBROOK -- When Mary Hamm was awakened by a rumble early Thursday
morning, she thought she was feeling the tail end of a major earthquake
coming from Memphis.
  What Hamm actually felt was a smaller earthquake with a 3.9 magnitude,
still the strongest to hit Arkansas in almost a quarter of a century.
  Not only did the quake not start in Memphis, a mapping of the tremor
suggests the epicenter was just off Arkansas 115, possibly on Hamm's 
property, about 12 miles north of Pocahontas.
  "It sure seemed like it was close to us," she said.
  The first quake struck Thursday at 3:18 a.m. It was followed 32 minutes
later by an aftershock measuring 3.1, according to Center for Earthquake 
Research and Information at the University of Memphis.
  Eleven counties in northeast Arkansas felt the jolt. There were no
reports of damage or injuries.
  The last time a quake of greater strength hit Arkansas was in March
1976, when a 5.0 magnitude tremor centered in Marked Tree shook much of
northeast Arkansas.
  Most earthquakes in the mid-South occur along the New Madrid zone, a
series of faults that extend from Cairo, Ill., southwest to Arkansas at 
Marked Tree.
  The New Madrid is best known for its violent quakes in the winter of
1811-1812. Centered near New Madrid, Mo., the quake's tremors could be 
felt as far away as Boston.
  After Thursday's small quakes, two research teams from the Memphis 
earthquake center traveled to Pocahontas where they will study the area
over the next few days.
  "There are so many faults that are inactive," said Amanda Hatch, an 
earthquake specialist at the University of Memphis. "We often don't know
where they are until they act up."
  Hamm said she was relieved the quake was relatively small. She had
expected to hear about mass devastation in Memphis.
  "I've been in a few before so I know what they are," she said. "This was
so loud and it lasted a long time. I just knew Memphis was going to have 
been hit bad."
  Pocahontas Mayor John Patrick said Thursday's jolts were a strong
reminder of the New Madrid fault and the dangers they may pose.
  "I was surprised this was that close to us," he said. "It's at our front 
door. We need to wake up."
  Most residents were sleeping when the quake began. Tammy Pool, a
Randolph County sheriff's office dispatcher who lives in Maynard, said she 
nearly fell to the floor.
  "It shook me up pretty good," she said.
  "It was like a bolt of lightning," Lisa Ahia, of Pocahontas, said. "I
flew up out of bed. You could hear the earth rumbling."
  Hamm said she recently called her daughter in Boron, Calif., after a
7-magnitude earthquake rocked the Mojave Desert on Oct. 16.
  "I was calling to check on her," Hamm said. "Now, she'll be calling to 
check on us."
                            

This article was published on Friday, October 22, 1999