On This Date

One hundred ninety nine years ago the first of a series of earthquakes that we now call the New Madrid Earthquake caused enough damage that for a period the Mississippi River ran backwards. There were about 2,000 earthquakes during this event lasting well into 1812. Five of these quakes were measured at 8.0 or greater.

It might surprise many people but the 120 mile long New Madrid Fault is the highest earthquake risk area in the US out side the West Coast and experiences more than 200 events each year. While damaging earthquakes are not as frequent as on the West Coast, when damaging earthquakes do occur the impact area is about 20 times larger because of the underlying geology.  The fault is located in the middle of the North American Tectonic Plate rather then along the tectonic plate interface the are the source of most earthquakes around the globe. A major earthquake of say 7.5 magnitude scale  appears to happen every 200-300 years so statistically we are highly vulnerable to a major event.

Earthquake, Flood, Storm all will impact your life, take time to prepare a family emergency plan and create an emergency supply kit. Contact your local emergency management office or FEMA for suggestions on what your kit and plan should contain.