Magnitude 4.9 Earthquake in Louisiana Is the Strongest Ever Recorded Onshore in the State
On the morning of March 5, 2026, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) recorded a magnitude 4.9 earthquake in Red River Parish in northwestern Louisiana. The epicenter was about 4.5 miles west of Coushatta, the parish seat, near Edgefield, at 11:30 UTC (5:30 a.m. local time), and the shaking was felt across much of the state.
USGS estimates indicate that about 1,000 people experienced strong shaking, about 22,000 felt moderate shaking, and about 2.626 million felt light shaking. More than 1,190 people reported feeling the quake through the agency's "Did You Feel It?" system, with reports spanning northwestern Louisiana, eastern Texas and southern Arkansas. As of that day, no structural damage had been reported.
It was the strongest earthquake ever recorded onshore in Louisiana and the second strongest in the state's history; the state record remains a magnitude 5.3 earthquake recorded offshore near Grand Isle on February 6, 2006. Earthquakes are rare in Louisiana: USGS data show only about 30 earthquakes had been recorded statewide since 1911 before this event.
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Source: U.S. Geological Survey
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于路易斯安那州红河堂区堂区治所 Coushatta 的红河堂区法院大楼，本次4.9级地震震中即在该堂区 Coushatta 以西约4.5英里处。Billy Hathorn 摄，CC BY-SA 3.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: The Red River Parish Courthouse in Coushatta, Louisiana; the magnitude 4.9 earthquake was centered about 4.5 miles west of Coushatta in the same parish. Photo by Billy Hathorn, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
