Earthquake here in Indiana of all places

[Airhead]

Wouldn't it be the irony or ironies if everything East of the San Anderas Fault slid into the Atlantic Ocean?

[Yknurd]

Don't worry, it's just God punishing America for condoning homosexuals.

[Saxman]

Actually, due to geology if a major quake were to hit the New Madrid fault it could potentially cause even MORE widespread damage than the equivalent magnitude of a quake striking along the San Andreas.

The 1812 New Madrid Earthquake is estimated at about 7.9-8.0 and impacted some 50,000 square miles. By comparison, the equivalent 1906 San Francisco Earthquake (maximum estimates of 8.3) affected "only" 6000 square miles. The only thing that would spare the Midwest is the lower population density.

[SkyRock]

5.2 from what I read.  Felt it at 5:40 this morning.

The New Madrid is a major fault line.  There have been a few cataclysmic quakes along this fault in recorded history but none since around the year 1800.

The New Madrid Earthquake, one of the largest earthquakes ever recorded in the contiguous United States, occurred on February 7, 1812. It got its name from its primary location in the New Madrid Seismic Zone, near New Madrid, Louisiana Territory (now Missouri).

This earthquake was preceded by three other major quakes: two on December 16, 1811, and one on January 23, 1812. These earthquakes destroyed approximately half the town of New Madrid. There were also numerous aftershocks in the area for the rest of that winter.

There are estimates that the earthquakes were felt strongly over 50,000 square miles (130,000 kmē), and moderately across nearly one million square miles. The historic San Francisco earthquake of 1906, by comparison, was felt moderately over 6,000 square miles (16,000 kmē).


Mississippi river flowed backwards to form reelfoot lake. 
 

[Saxman]

Wow, I missed the "Moderately Impacted" part of the description. It's frightening considering that the 1812 and 1906 quakes were fairly close in maximum estimated magnitude (with the 1906 quake being estimated as somewhat higher)

[SIK1]

One thing to consider is that all the energy from the the 1906 SF earthquake was concentrated into a smaller area, which would cause more damage. Also a change of just 1 ie. 3-4 on the Richter(sp) scale is an increase to a factor of something like 32 in the energy released.

Either way a large quake is no laughing matter being capable of massive destruction.

[Saxman]

SIK,

An 8-magnitude quake is an 8-magnitude quake. The damage inflicted by the 1906 quake was because the POPULATION was more concentrated, NOT the fact that the quake ITSELF was. Had the New Madrid, MO area had the same population density and level of urbanization during the 1812 quake as San Francisco had in 1906 we'd be looking at a similar level of destruction.

Also, as I said before, the 1812 New Madrid and 1906 San Francisco quakes were roughly of the same magnitude.

[AquaShrimp]

Slept through the main quake, felt the after-shock about 11am today.

[panzerr]

I felt it this morning.  That's about the 4th quake I have felt here in northern Indiana over the last 20 years.

[texasmom]

My Ma slept through a 9+ quake in Alaska in 1964.   

[Meatwad]

One guy I work said he had about a 3ft crack in his foundation this morning after the 5.2 one hit

[panzerr]

My Ma slept through a 9+ quake in Alaska in 1964.   

TexasMom I remember that quake.  Seems like Life magazine had a cover story on it.  That was a BAD one!

[Frodo]

The New Madrid Earthquake, one of the largest earthquakes ever recorded in the contiguous United States, occurred on February 7, 1812. It got its name from its primary location in the New Madrid Seismic Zone, near New Madrid, Louisiana Territory (now Missouri).

This earthquake was preceded by three other major quakes: two on December 16, 1811, and one on January 23, 1812. These earthquakes destroyed approximately half the town of New Madrid. There were also numerous aftershocks in the area for the rest of that winter.

There are estimates that the earthquakes were felt strongly over 50,000 square miles (130,000 kmē), and moderately across nearly one million square miles. The historic San Francisco earthquake of 1906, by comparison, was felt moderately over 6,000 square miles (16,000 kmē).


Mississippi river flowed backwards to form reelfoot lake. 
 

Woke us up here in Missouri, but no damage.

Here are a few links.

Check out some of the first hand accounts. Hard to imagine!

I have duck hunted the New Madrid area many times. The ground is mostly sand and gumbo mud. Not a place to be in an earthquake!

Frodo

PANTHER-ACROSS-THE-SKY
Tecumseh and the New Madrid Earthquake
http://www.ratical.org/ratville/Tecumseh.html

http://hsv.com/genlintr/newmadrd/accnt1.htm

http://hsv.com/genlintr/newmadrd/index.htm

[E25280]

SIK,

An 8-magnitude quake is an 8-magnitude quake. The damage inflicted by the 1906 quake was because the POPULATION was more concentrated, NOT the fact that the quake ITSELF was. Had the New Madrid, MO area had the same population density and level of urbanization during the 1812 quake as San Francisco had in 1906 we'd be looking at a similar level of destruction.

Also, as I said before, the 1812 New Madrid and 1906 San Francisco quakes were roughly of the same magnitude.

Not quite correct.  The rock formations underneath California are very fractured.  An earthquake there tends to be more localized because those fractures will limit the distance of the shaking.

In contrast, the midwest is relatively unfractured, and thus the shock waves from an earthquake travel much farther and remain stronger even far away from the epicenter.  The way a geologist on the radio described it this morning, you could have a 5.0 at one end of LA and the other end feels virtually nothing -- but if you drop a book in Memphis, a desk will shake in Milwaukee.

[ink]

Don't worry, it's just God punishing America for condoning homosexuals.

he hasn't even begun. that yet!!