Northern Louisiana Rattled by Series of Earthquakes

Louisiana already has its hands full catastrophe exposures in the form of hurricanes, floods and severe storms. Could earthquakes be next on the list?

Northern Louisiana has been rattled by a series of earthquakes in the past week. First was a magnitude 4.9 earthquake on March 5 that struck near Coushatta and Edgefield.

Then on March 9, four earthquakes between magnitudes 3.1 and 4.0 struck near Edgefield. The earthquakes were confirmed by the USGS. No damage has been reported from the earthquake, but shaking could be felt in Shreveport, according to WWLV.

WWLV meteorologist Payton Malone said that the March 5 earthquake could be the strongest earthquake ever recorded on land in Louisiana.

The cause of the earthquakes is still unknown. Cynthia Ebinger, a geosciences professor at Tulane University, told WBRZ that researchers have studied similar cases of earthquakes in Texas and Oklahoma and found they were caused my large amounts of wastewater injection typically associated with the oil and gas industry.

“It’s possible that the increase is related to 10 to 15 years of increased volumes of wastewater injection, and it’s something that the state will look at,” Ebinger told the news station.

Standard homeowners’ insurance policies exclude coverage for damage caused by earth movement. Earthquake coverage must be added to a policy by endorsement.