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07 Feb 2012 01:35

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U.S.: Earthquake drills: Millions remember New Madrid by hiding under desks

  • 2.2 million people in eight states to participate in a “ShakeOut” source
  • » Get ready Tuesday morning: In honor of Missouri’s earthquake awareness month and timed in honor of the New Madrid Earthquake, millions will take part in a giant earthquake drill that starts at 10:15 CST. Will you take part? You never know when another earthquake might hit.
Posted by samimain • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 Feb 2012 01:22

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U.S.: The day the Plains shook: The New Madrid Earthquake, 200 years later

  • Set your watches: At 3:45 a.m. CST, it will have been 200 years since the strongest earthquake Middle America has ever seen. One of four major earthquakes from the 1811-1812 era, the New Madrid Earthquake (which averaged about 7.8 in magnitude) was felt hundreds of miles away and was so powerful that it destroyed the Missouri town that gives it its name. But could it happen again? Experts say it’s likely, and the damage could be far worse. “If another quake of the magnitude of the New Madrid Quake of 1811 should hit the region, it would be the worst natural disaster in American history,” Arkansas state auditor Charlie Daniels wrote in the 1990s. “Almost all of downtown Memphis would fall.” Is that enough to fret over, though? (Photo: 1904 photo of an earthquake fissure filled with intruded sand in Mississippi County, Missouri, originally created during the New Madrid Earthquake. Photo via USGS; see more photos here.) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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