Nakia Graham won’t soon forget this day [Thursday, March 5, 2026]. This 32-year-old college advisor says she was still sound asleep at her home in Mansfield, Louisiana, with sunrise still more than an hour out.
At 5:30 a.m. her bed began to shake. Graham, at first, thought she was still dreaming, but not for long. “It was as if my house was made of Jello and somebody was shaking the plate that the Jello was on.” Graham recalls how her cat, Lady, just vanished, only to be found an hour later hiding under the couch.
Now fully awake, Graham grabbed her phone and immediately called friends and family. They became the first to tell her it was an earthquake, but knew little else at that moment. She then dialed Red River Radio to tell us what she’d just experienced.
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) soon confirmed that a 4.9 magnitude earthquake woke not only her, but also a large swath of Northwest Louisiana citizens, at least some of whom were likewise asleep when the shaking began, as well.
The USGS reported that the quake occurred at a depth of 3.1 miles, about 4 miles northwest of the village of Edgefield, off of U.S. Highway 71 in Red River Parish. This event becomes the second largest earthquake in Louisiana history, topped only by the 5.3 magnitude quake that occurred in Grand Isle, Louisiana 20 years ago, on February 9, 2006.
Even roughly 30 miles to the west of the epicenter, Graham vividly recalls the abject fear she faced during the event. “It lasted anywhere between :30 and :45 seconds. But, you know, to feel something and to be that startled out of your sleep it felt like forever.”
The USGS says there are no reports of any damage. Graham also was relieved to see no damage inside or outside her home. Hours later she began to reflect on some of her very first thoughts about what could be happening during the shaking, ranging from a gas well explosion, to a train crash, or even an attack on Barksdale Air Force Base in Bossier City, in light of the unfolding events in the Middle East. She is grateful none of those fears proved to be true.
An important note on the measurement of an earthquake’s magnitude: you may sometimes still see references to the Richter Scale, which is not commonly used today, and was largely replaced in the 1970s [scientists say it fails to measure the total energy released by massive earthquakes, often underestimating them]. Instead, magnitude is measured by the Moment Magnitude Scale (MMS). For a complete explainer on magnitude types click here.
The USGS provides other graphic supports which can also prove usesful. One graphic is called the ShakeMap. It measures the severity of shaking in the affected area of an earthquake.
Another graphic is known as the community internet intensity map to show the extent of public reaction to the earthquake.
