03/05/2026
🚨Breaking news. Louisiana just had its strongest earthquake in nearly 14 years.
Early this morning, a magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck about 36 miles south southeast of Shreveport. It hit around 5:30 a.m. CST on March 5, 2026 and was very shallow, only about 5 km (3 miles) deep. That is why people felt it across northern Louisiana, east Texas and parts of Arkansas, even though early reports mention little structural damage so far.
For a state that almost never thinks about earthquakes, this is extreme. AccuWeather reports it is the strongest quake recorded in this part of Louisiana in decades and likely the largest on land in state history. Most Louisiana quakes are tiny and offshore.
Louisiana is supposed to be geologically quiet, far away from the San Andreas and the Pacific Ring of Fire. Underneath, though, it is built on thick, soft sediment from ancient rivers and the Gulf. Those layers can shake more when a quake hits, and shallow events send their energy straight into homes, roads and pipelines with almost no chance to fade out.
This is also not the first tremor. Since early December, the same broader region in northwestern Louisiana has had a series of smaller quakes in the 2.6 to 3.1 magnitude range. Today’s 4.9 is sitting on top of that pattern, which looks more like a short sequence than a single random jolt that came out of nowhere.
I am watching USGS and regional seismic data in real time. If there are aftershocks, if the sequence continues, or if any significant damage starts to appear in reports, I will break it down here for you with clear maps and numbers.
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