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When I heard this morning on NPR that Illinois had been hit by a trembler, I had to smile. I'm glad no one was hurt et cetera, but all those Midwesterners who madly prefer tornadoes over earthquakes forget that one of the most dangerous faults in the country is right in their backyard.
Recession Cone emailed me about this earlier today and linked to a fabulous USGS image I had never seen before. It's available on a couple Wikipedia articles (I'll get to those in a minute), but first, check it out:
I hadn't known about this. Seems the type of earth over thar is not quite as . . . stable . . . as over here on the far coast.
Which brings us to the New Madrid Earthquake. For those of you whose remembrance of the early 1800s is a little shaky, that was the quake that rearranged state boundaries.
Now, granted, the Hayward quake is likely to come long before the Reelfoot knocks down buildings again, but make no mistake: when Reelfoot slips, it'll be taking things down all over Missouri and Arkansas and Tennessee and Illinois.
Like RC said, "I'll take constant threat and preparation over infrequent but total devastation, thank you very much."*
Give me a California quake any day.
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ReplyDelete* Not to suggest I now expect to actually survive the Hayward quake....
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ReplyDeleteOh. The other Wikipedia article.
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ReplyDeleteWorth pointing out: the West Coast had a bigger quake this week: (usgs)
What about infrequent and prepared? :)
ReplyDeleteI am apparently the only one of all of my Indiana amigos that did NOT feel the earthquake this morning. I attribute it to my very late bedtime last night/this morning.
ReplyDeleteIt makes me realize I should probably be better prepared.
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ReplyDeleteMe too. I am certainly insufficiently prepared at present.
You sir, are a little obsessed with earthquakes. :)
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