If You Live Near The New Madrid Seismic Zone...
Are you ready for the day when the largest earthquake in U.S. history rips through the center of the country like a lightning bolt? Last year, hundreds of little earthquakes rattled the New Madrid Seismic Zone, and it is just a matter of time before catastrophe strikes. In 1811 and 1812, the three largest earthquakes in the entire history of the continental United States opened up gigantic fissures in the ground and they were keenly felt as far away as Washington D.C., New York City and Boston. The next time such an earthquake occurs, it will cause incalculable damage. Unfortunately, such a quake could be coming a whole lot sooner than most people think.
When we talk about “the Big One”, we tend to focus on the San Andreas Fault in southern California, and there is a good reason for that. Someday an absolutely enormous earthquake will permanently alter the geography of the California coast. But most people do not realize that the New Madrid Seismic Zone has the potential to create even larger earthquakes, and major cities such as Chicago, Memphis, St. Louis, Little Rock and New Orleans are potentially in great danger…
While not as well known for earthquakes as California or Alaska, the New Madrid Seismic Zone (NMSZ), located in southeastern Missouri, northeastern Arkansas, western Tennessee, western Kentucky and southern Illinois, is the most active seismic area in the United States, east of the Rocky Mountains. The area includes major cities such as Memphis, Tennessee, St. Louis, Missouri, Little Rock, Arkansas and Evansville, Indiana. Every year hundreds of small earthquakes occur in the NMSZ, however, most are too small to be felt by humans and can only be detected by sensitive instruments.
In 2024, there were over 300 measurable earthquakes in the New Madrid Seismic Zone. This area in southeastern Missouri has a history of frequent minor earthquakes, and the potential for larger earthquakes in the future.
The New Madrid earthquakes were the biggest earthquakes in American history. They occurred in the central Mississippi Valley, but were felt as far away as New York City, Boston, Montreal, and Washington D.C. President James Madison and his wife Dolly felt them in the White House. Church bells rang in Boston. From December 16, 1811 through March of 1812 there were over 2,000 earthquakes in the central Midwest, and between 6,000-10,000 earthquakes in the Bootheel of Missouri where New Madrid is located near the junction of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers.
In the known history of the world, no other earthquakes have lasted so long or produced so much evidence of damage as the New Madrid earthquakes. Three of the earthquakes are on the list of America’s top earthquakes: the first one on December 16, 1811, a magnitude of 8.1 on the Richter scale; the second on January 23, 1812, at 7.8; and the third on February 7, 1812, at as much as 8.8 magnitude.
According to the USGS, at one point the ground shifted so violently that it “temporarily forced the Mississippi River to flow backwards”…
The quakes of 1811 and 1812 also created giant crevices in the ground that “ran from north to south” and that were up to five miles long…
As the general area experienced more than 2,000 earthquakes in five months, people discovered that most of crevices opening up during an earthquake ran from north to south, and when the earth began moving, they would chop down trees in an east- west direction and hold on using the tree as a bridge. There were “missing people” who were most likely swallowed up by the earth. Some earthquake fissures were as long as five miles.
But I believe that next time it will be far, far worse.
If you visit the town of New Madrid today, you will find that they are very aware of why they have become so famous…
Today, just 11.4 percent of all residences in that area have earthquake insurance.
Just like we have seen in California, insurance companies realize what is eventually going to happen and they are protecting themselves.
When disaster finally strikes, the death and destruction that we could potentially witness could be off the charts…
No comments:
Post a Comment