A large earthquake has struck right in the heart of an ancient seismic zone feared to one day bring a catastrophic natural disaster to the Midwest.

The US Geological Survey (USGS) detected a magnitude 4.0 quake less than a mile from the small Missouri city of Cooter at 1.59pm ET on Thursday.

Although Cooter only has a population slightly over 300, the seismic event has already been reported by over 500 people across six states, including Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Mississippi and Tennessee.

According to USGS, the shockwaves were felt over a distance of more than 300 miles, from western Tennessee to central Arkansas.

Residents have reported light to moderate shaking throughout the region, but there have not been any reports of injuries from local news outlets.

Cooter sits in the southeasternmost part of the state, known as Missouri's Bootheel. However, this region is also known for being in the heart of the New Madrid Seismic Zone (NMSZ).

The NMSZ is a large area in the middle of the US, including Arkansas, Kentucky, Missouri and Tennessee, where hundreds of minor earthquakes are recorded each year.

Although these light tremors are considered harmless and normal for the region, scientists have calculated that the NMSZ is entering the window where a massive seismic event could take place, affecting millions throughout the central US.

Between December 1811 and February 1812, a group of three powerful earthquakes over 7.0 in magnitude caused damage in multiple, including Cincinnati and St Louis, and was felt in states as far away as Connecticut and Louisiana.

Studies have found that large quakes like these could happen in the NMSZ every 200 to 800 years.

This means the region has just entered the range for the next major disaster in the Midwest to strike, although there is no guarantee it will happen this century.

The zone is one of the most active earthquake spots east of the Rocky Mountains, even though it has remained relatively unknown compared to seismic hotspots such as California's Bay Area.

In 2009, researchers with USGS warned that this strange area, which does not sit on a tectonic plate boundary, had between a 25 and 40 percent chance of unleashing an earthquake stronger than 6.0 in magnitude within the next five decades.

This geological oddity is known as an intraplate seismic zone, meaning it is far from tectonic plate boundaries that typically cause earthquakes as they grind past each other under the Earth's surface.

As for the earthquake in Cooter on Thursday, the 4.0 tremor took place in nearly the exact spot where USGS scientists modeled the potential devastation of a massive cataclysm caused by the NMSZ. 

The 2019 simulation examined the aftermath of a magnitude 7.7 earthquake along the borders of Arkansas, Missouri and Tennessee, in the area near the Bootheel and the major metropolitan city of Memphis.

The shockwaves from the hypothetical mega quake spread for hundreds of miles, reaching cities including Kansas City, Indianapolis, Louisville and Birmingham.

Since the region is not as well equipped as California in terms of dealing with major seismic events, studies projected that a magnitude 7.7 earthquake would cause over 86,000 injuries or deaths, damage 715,000 buildings, and knock out power to 2.6 million homes.

A report by the University of Illinois, Virginia Tech and George Washington University also estimated that the damage could cost $300 billion directly, with indirect costs due to lost jobs possibly taking that figure to $600 billion.

In 2023, USGS updated their predictions for major seismic events throughout the country, and gave Missouri's Bootheel a 75 to 95 percent chance of experiencing a 'damaging earthquake' within the next century.

The agency said: 'No one can predict earthquakes. However, by investigating faults and past quakes, scientists can better assess the likelihood of future earthquakes and how intense their shaking might be.'