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Topic started on 21-11-2008 @ 12:10 PM by grover
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Major Quake in U.S. Midwest Might Kill 6,000, Study Estimates
www.bloomberg.com
 Nov. 21 (Bloomberg) -- A major Midwestern earthquake may cause 6,000 deaths and $450 billion in damage, while disrupting oil and gas
supplies, a U.S. government-sponsored study said.
Tennessee and Missouri would suffer the brunt of the destruction from a 7.7-magnitude earthquake along the New Madrid Seismic Zone, where more than
3,000 temblors have occurred since 1974, according to the report from the Urbana, Illinois-based Mid-America Earthquake Center. A quake of about that
force devastated the region almost 200 years ago, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
“All those who worked on this project already feel this would be the worst natural disaster in the history of the U.S.,” said Amr Elnashai,
principal investigator and a civil engineering professor at the University of Illinois Urbana- Champaign, by telephone.
There is a 90 percent chance that an earthquake of magnitude 6 or 7 will strike the area in the next 50 years, said the study, which was released
yesterday.
Eight states in the Midwest and South are vulnerable to major earthquakes, including Mississippi, Alabama and Indiana, according to the study, which
was funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers.
The New Madrid zone runs from southern Illinois to northern Arkansas and includes Memphis, with a population of about 670,900, according to U.S.
Census Bureau estimates. (visit the link for the full news article)
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reply posted on 21-11-2008 @ 12:10 PM by grover
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The flood plains of the Mississippi are an incongruous place for an earthquake or a fault line... or so it would seem. After all the place seems so
geologically stable... but appearances can be deceiving.
Miles below the flat docile plains of the lower mid-west lies a fault line that is so infrequently active that scientists know very little about
it...
... but when it acts up its a humdinger.
The 1811 quakes are purported to be among the strongest ever recorded in the United States... fortunately there were few people living in the area at
the time... now millions do.
I don't know how they reached the 6,000 number... I imagine the death toll could be far worse.
www.bloomberg.com
(visit the link for the full news article)
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reply posted on 21-11-2008 @ 12:28 PM by NGC2736
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reply to post by grover
The following is my opinion as a member participating in this discussion. Living not far from the area, I can assure you that most people here think the effects would be much worse than 6,000 deaths. This idea gets
mentioned on local news every two or three months, at least.
I would put the figure for deaths at a minimum of 15,000. At least two major urban centers would be effected extensively, and with water damage from
the Mississippi River likely to almost wipe out several smaller towns, the dead and missing would be much higher I'm sure.
As an ATS Staff Member, I will not moderate in threads such as this where I have participated as a member.
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reply posted on 21-11-2008 @ 12:29 PM by grover
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reply to post by NGC2736
Since you live in the area I am curious... do building codes there take the possiblity of a quake big or small into consideration like California
does?
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reply posted on 21-11-2008 @ 12:35 PM by SpaDe_
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Scary stuff. This was covered on the discovery and the history channel some time ago. At that time scientists believed that it could be one of the
worst earthquakes in the history of the world if/when it occurs. There were geologists that said that if and when it happens it would devastate the
entire midwest. It has been a few years since this aired on those channels, but I remember looking at the fault lines and saying to myself that was a
weird place for an earthquake simply because its not a very active area.
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reply posted on 21-11-2008 @ 12:47 PM by NGC2736
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reply to post by grover
The latest building codes do cover the idea somewhat, though from the reporting I have heard, not on the level that Japan or California do.
Some bridges are being retrofitted for quake survivability, though this is a slow process. My guess would be that our area is some 25 years behind
areas that are more experienced in quakes.
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reply posted on 21-11-2008 @ 01:17 PM by LostNemesis
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Someone else posted about this just a while ago.... Well, I saw most of the History Channel show of this earthquake last night.
Was amazing to recall witness accounts, about what people went through when this massive quake happened. Many seemed to think it was the end of the
world.
I don't blame them, at all.
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reply posted on 21-11-2008 @ 01:21 PM by whoshotJR
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Why is this getting so much media lately?
We have fema talking about it and warning about it.
Your article here.
Multiple shows have been done by discovery and history channel about it.
You combine the above with the theories on HAARP and its a little scary
And here I though living in the NW was supposed to be the main area for the "big one"
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reply posted on 21-11-2008 @ 01:48 PM by antar
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Jim Berkland was on C2C last night with some very compelling information about the New Madras Fault as well as other key points of concern along the
western parts of america such as Seattle and Northern California Fault Lines.
Jim seems to have hit pay dirt with his fringe science and study of precursors and signs which tell of impending quakes, his track record speaks for
itself.
Good show, I recommend listening.
www.coasttocoastam.com...
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reply posted on 21-11-2008 @ 01:52 PM by whoshotJR
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reply posted on 21-11-2008 @ 02:02 PM by antar
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reply to post by whoshotJR
Nice site, but I did not see any present day or future predictions all past stuff, I wonder if you would have to join in order to see the latest?
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