We had an earthquake today, and for the fellow San Francisco Bay Area members, I was curious if any of you felt it?

I don't feel anything less than 4.0 :D  But I'm in Indiana, hehehe.

But when I was in Berkeley I barely ever felt any because they were pansy quakes.

I don't feel anything less than 4.0 :D  But I'm in Indiana, hehehe.


Just wait for New Madrid soon. I used to feel those tremors daily.

We had an earthquake today, and for the fellow San Francisco Bay Area members, I was curious if any of you felt it?


*yawn*  Only a 3.4?  Sheesh, that is barely even worth mentioning.  8)

If anybody has not seen "LA Story" with Steve Martin, go rent it.  There is a segment in it that is classic "California".  Steve and a bunch of friends are reating outside, when an earthquake occurs.  They just continue talking, like nothing ever happened (while the gal from England is bugging out).  For the most part, people hardly notice a quake in most of California unless it is at least a 3.6.


Just wait for New Madrid soon. I used to feel those tremors daily.

That's the one I am waiting for also.  And it is long overdue.


While people worry about California and quakes, most do not realize that the "Big One" will most likely happen at New Madrid.  And that quake is due at any time.  Most scientists estimate there is a 90% chance of having a magnitude 7 quake there in the next 50 years.

And a magnitude 7 quake there will be thousands of times worse then a 6.0 in California.  There are few building codes in that area of the country for earthquakes, and the area hit will be much larger.  In the 1812 quake, church bells rang in New York, and buildings collapsed in Chicago.  And the fault is located at the Missouri-Arkansas-Tennessee border.

If you think Katrina was bad on New Orleans, wait until the New Madrid lets go.  Most scientists expect that the Mississippi River will change course after the next "Big One" there, and move 50-150 miles West.  That will leave NO sitting in a stagnant swamp, with no river.

Ahhh, how I love natural calamity.  It is wonderful to see humans humbled on occasion.

I didn't feel it.

*yawn*  Only a 3.4?  Sheesh, that is barely even worth mentioning.  8)

If anybody has not seen "LA Story" with Steve Martin, go rent it.  There is a segment in it that is classic "California".  Steve and a bunch of friends are reating outside, when an earthquake occurs.  They just continue talking, like nothing ever happened (while the gal from England is bugging out).  For the most part, people hardly notice a quake in most of California unless it is at least a 3.6.

While people worry about California and quakes, most do not realize that the "Big One" will most likely happen at New Madrid.  And that quake is due at any time.  Most scientists estimate there is a 90% chance of having a magnitude 7 quake there in the next 50 years.

And a magnitude 7 quake there will be thousands of times worse then a 6.0 in California.  There are few building codes in that area of the country for earthquakes, and the area hit will be much larger.  In the 1812 quake, church bells rang in New York, and buildings collapsed in Chicago.  And the fault is located at the Missouri-Arkansas-Tennessee border.

If you think Katrina was bad on New Orleans, wait until the New Madrid lets go.  Most scientists expect that the Mississippi River will change course after the next "Big One" there, and move 50-150 miles West.  That will leave NO sitting in a stagnant swamp, with no river.

Ahhh, how I love natural calamity.  It is wonderful to see humans humbled on occasion.


Yup. It'll be huge.

People don't realise there are earthquakes there almost every day. Regularly when I lived in St. Louis I'd feel them.

The Mississippi reversed course the last time New Madrid went, next time, there'll be hundreds of thousands dead.

Oooh.  Can't wait.

  Okay, so that was  an earthquake...

  I thought it was someone downstairs slamming the door, again.  Makes the whole place shake, but this time the shaking seemed to last a little longer than usual...

  Yeah, though...

  The New Madrid fault is the one to watch.  It's a little overdue...

Yup. It'll be huge.

People don't realise there are earthquakes there almost every day. Regularly when I lived in St. Louis I'd feel them.

The Mississippi reversed course the last time New Madrid went, next time, there'll be hundreds of thousands dead.


  You have to remember, though, the population density, per square mile, is far less in that region than on the west coast...

  Splitting hairs, I know, but hundreds of thousands dead..?  I doubt it...

   You have to remember, though, the population density, per square mile, is far less in that region than on the west coast...

   Splitting hairs, I know, but hundreds of thousands dead..?  I doubt it...


Not true.  The crust in the West Coast is fairly thick and twisted.  This means that the shock waves are absorbed quickly, and are felt in a relatively small area.  The 1999 Hector Mine quake was a 7.0, but there was little damage because it occured in the middle of nowhere, about 120 miles from Los Angeles.  Even the 1994 Northridge Quake did very little damage outside of a 60 mile radius.

Now the East Coast is very different.  The only "Mountains" are the Apalachians, and those are old and worn.  Most of the land in that region is either fill left over from the last ice age, or the thinning crust that was deposited billions of years ago.  Remember, the 1812 New Madrid quake rang church bells in New York City.  And it collapsed buildings in Chicago, over 400 miles away.

Oh no, if New Madrid "lets go", it will make all other quakes before it look like a summer day.  The entire Mississippi basin will be devistated.  And Historically, the Mississippi River will change course.  That will mean huge flooding.  Dikes will collapse, and areas that are now above ground will sink below water level.

And last time, New Orleans sank an estimated 12-18".  It was after 1812 that they first started to have flooding problems in the city, and that has only gotten worse over the years.  If the city sinks another 12-18", it will no longer be inhabitable.  But that will likely happen anyways, since the odds are that the Old RIver Control Project may fail or be compromised.

In that event, the Mississippi River will jump West, and enter the Gulf Of Mexico over 100 miles away from New Orleans, destroying everything in it's path on the way there.  To give an idea, look at the link below.  The island in the center is where the Old River Control Project is located.  If it fails (or the river simply goes around it), the Mississippi will then follow a new path (which is actually the path it took around 30,000 years ago), and emerge almost due south.  In fact, it is easy to follow the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers in this, and see what will happen.

And that is the path the Mississippi wants to take now.  It is only became man is forcing it to go East that it continues to run to New Orleans.

http://maps.google.com/maps?t=k&ie=UTF8&z=10&ll=31.032932,-91.553192&spn=0.533056,1.09726&om=1

  You have to remember, though, the population density, per square mile, is far less in that region than on the west coast...

  Splitting hairs, I know, but hundreds of thousands dead..?  I doubt it...


Yeah, I know about the population density, but it's not like there's no people live around there.

In Missouri and Illinois alone there are around 5,000,000 people within the area that would be decimated. Never mind further south and north.

When I was living in St. Louis we got a little pamphlet all about what to do if an earthquake hit big time.. the basic idea was 'die'.  ;D

Well, I know it wasn't anything huge, but I was just curious if anyone felt it. I felt it and so did the rest of my department, so I know it had to have been felt by others besides myself. And, even if it is a 3.4 or anything below 4.0, it's still somewhat of a shock.


I do agree that our dense population will make it quite a wreck when the "big one" happens. I just want to say, any quake larger or equal to 7.0 is something to worry about no matter where you're from or where it hits, and that's why ALL cities that are suspectible to devastation should take every precaution necessary. If New Madrid and the surrounding area want to survive, then they better prepare the best they can as we are here in California. 

If New Madrid and the surrounding area want to survive, then they better prepare the best they can as we are here in California. 


They won't.  Because apathy is everywhere.  No more then New Orleans prepared itself for Katrina, even though they knew the city was overdue for a Cat 5 hurricane.  Cities and states historically built to meet the last disaster that happened before.  They do not prepare for anything that happened more then 5-10 years prior.

I remember when I moved to Connecticut in 1998, and was shocked at all of the freeway bridges in the area.  Almost every single one was built of bare steel beams, simply rivited together.  Connecticut, NY, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, they all build the same way.  Seeing a concrete reinforced bridge was a rare event.  And comming from "Earthquake Country", they scared me to death.  All it would take is a 4.5 quake, and over half of them will come apart like lego sets.

But nobody thinks about quakes in the NE.  So they do not build for them.  In fact, I would be shocked if many states in the region even have building codes that require reinforcement for quakes.  But since nobody who is alive now ever remembers a quake in the area, they do not think about it.

The entire Eastern half of the country is gonna be in for a big shock if the New Madrid ever lets go.  I myself live only 500 miles from New Madrid.  That is not much further then the distance from New Madrid to Chicago.  But everybody thinks I am nuts because I worry about earthquakes in Alabama.

Well,it's hurricane area,so people are more worried about that.What if both happened at the same time?