North Louisiana Mystery: The Earthquake That Might Have Shaped Two Lakes

While they certainly aren't a daily occurrence, earthquakes in Northwest Louisiana have become a popular point of conversation over the last few years.

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In fact, it was about this time last year, in April of 2024, things got a little tense as citizens of Sibley, Louisiana and the entirety of the Lake Bistineau area, all began to report a possible earthquake.

Reports Of Possible Earthquake Near Lake Bistineau Popped Up On Social Media

As a member of the Lake Bistineau News group on Facebook, I immediately began to see the comments roll in.

• "Did anyone else feel an earthquake just now? My house shook."
• "Earthquake in sibley"
• "I’m on Ringgold side of lake and It shook the house hard and had loud boom sound. I was on the phone with my hubby and he said earthquake. It was felt as far as Minden. A friend of mine lives on Dorcheat rd and she felt it. 7:35a.m."
• "Yesssssss. It shook my bed. That was verrrry strange. I got up and looked around everywhere. Even under the bed to make sure no one was under it. lol."
• "My husband just text me and said it scared him to death, he thought his plant done blown up. He works in Ringgold off lake road."

While I was completely unsuccessful in my attempt to find an "Official Confirmation" for the possible earthquake and its size, I did find the website, volcanodiscovery.com, where I learned that "Since 2024, Bossier Parish has had 18 quakes of magnitudes above 2 and up to 3.6", so the area around Lake Bistineau has certainly seen its share of quakes.

This information led me down a rabbit hole and revealed a story I had never read before.

The Same Earthquake Rumored To Form Caddo Lake Also Made Lake Bistineau

An article on the Stephen F. Austin University website recounted an earlier publishing from the Bossier Press which discussed one of the most destructive earthquakes to ever occur in this area.

In his weekly column in the Bossier Press on July 9, 1970, Bossier historian Rupert Peyton recounted the story of the earthquake that occurred in Bossier in 1811, resulting in the formation of Lake Bistineau.

One of the earliest accounts of this region by the white man was told by trappers of the great earthquake of 1811 which formed Lake Bistineau and many other lakes in the Mississippi Valley from southern Missouri, west Tennessee through Arkansas and into north Louisiana.

 

Peyton's story goes on to discuss the story of this hunting party and the huge storm they endured, the flooding and the tremor they felt in the ground, and their discovery that the swampy bottom of the Dorcheat Bayou had "sunk beneath the outspread waters of the newly formed lake."

The 1811 New Madrid Earthquake Might Have Been Biggest Ever In Area

The earthquake to which they elude was the massive 1811 New Madrid Earthquake, which is mentioned in an article from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

According to Native American folklore, this was the same earthquake that formed Caddo Lake and those "many other lakes in the Mississippi Valley."

While most officials agree with the amount of destruction done by this New Madrid earthquake, most geologists disagree that it was responsible for the formation of Lake Bistineau or Caddo Lake for that matter.

In fact, most of them credit the "Great Raft", the 100-mile log jam of the Red River for the formation of these two lakes and many others in the immediate area.

Whichever of these stories is true, one thing is for sure.  Earthquakes are nothing new to this region and they're likely to continue in the future.

The big question is, how big can they get and can we survive one of that magnitude?