La. earthquakes may be man-made disasters

By C.C. Campbell-Rock

Contributing Writer

Louisiana’s once-familiar weather has become unpredictable, now bringing hurricanes, tornadoes, snow and even earthquakes. On March 5, an unexpected quake shook Coushatta, catching many residents off guard.

To understand the impact, note that Coushatta is the parish seat of Red River Parish in northwest Louisiana. Located on the east bank of the Red River, it serves as the parish’s administrative center and lies about 45 miles south of Shreveport.

The 4.9-magnitude earthquake – the second largest in Louisiana history – hit 6.2 miles west of Edgefield on March 5 around 5:30 a.m., at a depth of 3.1 miles, according to Newsweek and WDAM 7. The USGS issued a green alert for low casualties and damage, while FOX 8 reported the quake was felt across North Louisiana.

One resident told WWL-TV, “Louisiana is not supposed to have earthquakes.” Another said, “I thought it was a tornado.” Many people shared their experiences on social media, including one who posted a selfie and wrote, “We had an earthquake.”

What worries most people is not just the earthquake itself but the helpless feeling when the ground shakes, and there’s nothing anyone can do.

An earthquake like this rattles neighborhoods, shaking homes and nerves alike. Still, most modern buildings hold up well, with damage usually limited to cracked plaster, broken dishes, or a few scattered items.

“This marks the second-largest earthquake ever recorded in the state’s history. The largest earthquake in Louisiana happened just over 20 years ago. It was a magnitude 5.3 tremor offshore near Grand Isle on February 10, 2006,” according to a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) report.

Adding to the concern, USGS has previously reported several earthquakes in the area since December 2025, including an overnight series of four quakes on Sunday night, with magnitudes ranging from 3.1 to 4.4.

Commenting on these recent events, Tulane geosciences professor Cynthia Ebinger said, “We’ve started to get bigger earthquakes over the past year.”

Supporting this trend, the Earthquake Tracker reported six quakes in the last seven days and ten in the past 30 days.

There’s an ongoing debate about what is causing these earthquakes. Some geoscientists attribute the activity to movement along ancient faults deep underground, while others believe human activities, especially wastewater injection, might be responsible. This disagreement highlights the uncertainty about whether nature or industry is the main cause.

Scientists studying the area found that an old fault system – a network of fractures in the bedrock beneath the basin – was reactivated and slipped during the earthquakes. Advocates of the natural cause theory often cite this evidence. Ebinger says, “That’s probably what happened here as well.”

However, Ebinger also notes that years of increased wastewater injection – pumping fluids from industrial processes deep underground – may be contributing to more earthquakes, though the connection is not yet clear.

Some seismologists on Baton Rouge’s WBRZ-TV believe oil and gas activity is behind the rise in earthquakes. Ann Rolfe, executive director of the Bucket Brigade, agrees. She says, “The oil industry is responsible for increased vulnerability by destroying our coast and now possibly causing earthquakes.”

USGS research geophysicist Thomas Pratt told The Shreveport-Bossier City Advocate, “It’s almost certainly induced by man-made operations.”

Seismologist William Ellsworth also attributes these earthquakes to human activity. Ellsworth explains, “Wastewater is known to activate deep faults, which can lead to larger earthquakes.”

To address these concerns, the Louisiana Department of Conservation and Energy (C&E) is working with U.S. Geological Survey seismic experts to investigate the cause of the earthquakes. “So far, we have not found any clear-cut connection,” C&E officials say.

In short, growth faults cause gradual geological changes, but man-made activities such as injection wells are often cited as the primary cause of recent earthquakes, according to WWLTV.com.

This article originally published in the March 16, 2026 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.