On one hand, little deformation is visible to drive frequent earthquakes in the midwest. On the other hand, dated liquefaction remnants have been interpreted to suggest strong earthquakes strike every 500 years or so in the vicinity of New Madrid. I tend to have more confidence in the deformation evidence, but the question is not decided.

Not enough detail is provided in the article to assess the claim of a brand new fault spawning an M7, which sounds unlikely.