# 2486
Our nation's greatest earthquake risk comes, not from California, but from the heartland.
This USGS map shows more than 4,000 small to moderate quakes that have occurred over the past 30 years in the mid west. Most are centered around the Missouri Bootheel community of New Madrid, where a series of major (estimated 8.0) earthquakes erupted in 1811-1812.
Luckily, roughly two-hundred years ago, this region of the country was barely settled. Very little damage was recorded. Since then, 44 million people have moved into this danger zone.
The 1812 earthquakes actually changed the course of the Mississippi river. Today, should it happen again, it would change the course of millions of lives.
Even a less powerful quake would cause horrendous damage and loss of life. Below is a graphic representation of the damage a 6.7 - 6.8 earthquake would cause in California, or in New Madrid.
This from http://quake.wr.usgs.gov/prepare/factsheets/NewMadrid/
Although earthquakes in the central and eastern United States are less frequent than in the western United States, they affect much larger areas. This is shown by two areas affected by earthquakes of similar magnitude-the 1895 Charleston, Missouri, earthquake in the New Madrid seismic zone and the 1994 Northridge, California, earthquake. Red indicates minor to major damage to buildings and their contents. Yellow indicates shaking felt, but little or no damage to objects, such as dishes.
Today FEMA reminds us that another quake will happen again. This from Reuters.
Government warns of "catastrophic" U.S. quake
Thu Nov 20, 2008 6:42pm EST
KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Reuters) - People in a vast seismic zone in the southern and midwestern United States would face catastrophic damage if a major earthquake struck there and should ensure that builders keep that risk in mind, a government report said on Thursday.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency said if earthquakes strike in what geologists define as the New Madrid Seismic Zone, they would cause "the highest economic losses due to a natural disaster in the United States."
FEMA predicted a large earthquake would cause "widespread and catastrophic physical damage" across Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee -- home to some 44 million people.
Tennessee is likely to be hardest hit, according to the study that sought to gauge the impact of a 7.7 magnitude earthquake in order to guide the government's response.
In Tennessee alone, it forecast hundreds of collapsed bridges, tens of thousands of severely damaged buildings and a half a million households without water.
All of which points out the need to be prepared for emergencies, whether they stem from a pandemic, a flood, a hurricane, or an earthquake.
Disasters happen.
Good places to get started include:
FEMA http://www.fema.gov/index.shtm
READY.GOV http://www.ready.gov/
AMERICAN RED CROSS http://www.redcross.org/
For Pandemic Preparedness Information:
For more in-depth emergency preparedness information I can think of no better resource than GetPandemicReady.Org. Admittedly, as a minor contributor to that site, I'm a little biased.
But whether you are preparing for 72-hours, for two-weeks, or three-months, the important thing is to get started.
