Becauseseismicactivitywithinmid-continentsisusuallymuchlowerthanthatalongplateboundaryzones,evensmallearthquakescancausewidespreadconcerns,especiallywhentheseeventsoccurinthesourceregionsofpreviouslargeearthquakes.However,thesesmallearthquakesmaybejustaftershocksthatcontinuefordecadesorevenlonger.TherecentseismicityintheTangshanregioninNorthChinaislikelyaftershocksofthe1976GreatTangshanearthquake.ThecurrentearthquakesequenceintheNewMadridseismiczoneincentralUnitedStates,whichincludesaclusterofM*7.0eventsin1811–1812andanumberofsimilareventsinthepastmillennium,isbelievedtoresultfromrecentfaultreactivationthatreleasespre-storedstrainenergyinthecrust.Ifso,thisearthquakesequenceissimilartoaftershocksinthattheratesofenergyreleaseshoulddecaywithtimeandthesequenceofearthquakeswilleventuallyend.WeusesimplephysicalanalysisandnumericalsimulationstoshowthatthecurrentsequenceoflargeearthquakesintheNewMadridfaultzoneislikelyendingorhasended.Recognizingthatmid-continentalearthquakeshavelongaftershocksequencesandcomplexspatiotemporaloccurrencesarecriticaltoimprovehazardassessments.