Comments on: Earthquake Risk ... in Memphis?

By: weeble warble

weeble warble — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 06:00:15 +0000

I live in a white zone (Tallahassee, FL), and I felt the effects of a rare earthquake that came from the Gulf of Mexico. Talk about bizarre!!

By: Rob

Rob — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 04:17:39 +0000

There's a spot in KY on Highway 231 in which you can see an actual branch of New Madrid as a seam in the rock where they blasted through the hill for the highway. What's really frightening is that there has been almost no preparation for a large scale quake in most of the risk zone, plus almost no structures are built to resist tremors. A big quake on the New Madrid will make what Katrina did to New Orleans look like nothing.

By: Jim W

Jim W — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 00:22:44 +0000

Yep, we have quakes in Southern Indiana for sure. I've been in Evansville for 10 years now and I've experienced two. Both short, 5 seconds or so, but supposedly 4 - 5 on the scale - enough to knock stuff over and cause cracks in foundations. No one died of course.

By: cybele

cybele — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 19:45:22 +0000

John Dubya - actually, Californians are probably more aware of the New Madrid quake and fault zone than those who live in the area ... it's taught in high schools here as part of the basic science curriculum (and as a transplant to CA, I learned about it in basic geology in college).

I've lived in red zones for twenty years now ... moved here from a blue zone.

The other folks who I don't think are fully aware of the hazard are those along the Cascadia Subduction Zone. (Seattle, I'm talking to you.)

By: john dubya

john dubya — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 15:51:52 +0000

I'm blown away that Californian's think they've got the earthquakes all to themselves. Reelfoot Lake my friends; that's an earthquake that would break off San Francisco. Research it further and you'll also find that the 8.1 quake also caused the mighty Mississippi to flow backwards. I'm in the orange zone also.

By: L.B. Jeffries

L.B. Jeffries — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 12:44:50 +0000

Still waiting for a big one to match that earthquake in the 1800's in South Carolina. I think my house is right inside the orange zone...

By: Miss Cellania

Miss Cellania — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 10:39:03 +0000

I felt earthquakes twice while living in West Tennessee. There was a scare about a predicted "big one" about twenty years ago, and I interviewed my father (a geologist) about it to drive home the fact that these things cannot be predicted.

By: MadMolecule

MadMolecule — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 07:29:15 +0000

I live in Memphis, and we're very much aware that we're in the New Madrid Seismic Zone. About two years ago there was an earthquake in Arkansas that was strong enough for us to feel it here.