The New Madrid Fault, a GLP Exclusive Analysis

" The Colorado and Virginia quakes have NOTHING to do with the New Madrid fault!

Try same plate boundary on the same planet, geeze !

" The Colorado and Virginia quakes have NOTHING to do with the New Madrid fault!

Try same plate boundary on the same planet, geeze !

I dont think so either.I think its going to be a surprise when it happens.Not the New Madrid.Related to the Craton but
I dont think it will be New Madrid.Not yet..Maybe the East coast due to the pressure of Hurricane Irene.The east coast may be gone soon.

" The Colorado and Virginia quakes have NOTHING to do with the New Madrid fault!

Try same plate boundary on the same planet, geeze !

" The Colorado and Virginia quakes have NOTHING to do with the New Madrid fault!

Try same plate boundary on the same planet, geeze !

So based on your analysis, how soon could the New Madrid go?

[link to ehp3-earthquake.wr.usgs.gov]

trying to get this to load, tried multiple browsers, nothing works

its a govt link FYI

found it using the VA quake ID #

it is the only page that contains that ID# that won't load


---------> EVENT ID # se082311a

The Wabash Valley fault/rift is an extension of the New Madrid. Yeah they are connected. It ends a bit south of Terre Haute,IN.

got it to work, it was a postscript file download, opened with corel and it was a pic of this
[link to earthquake.usgs.gov]

I'm neither a geologist nor a psychic. Anything I said would be pure guesswork.

I compiled this post because I found the geographic position of the Colorado/Virginia quakes very intriguing in that they drew a line that connect themselves with New Madrid and San Francisco. Plus, I didn't know much about the history of New Madrid myself, so it was fun to learn as I went, and compile some info in one place instead of seeing it scattered in tiny bits over dozens of posts here and elsewhere.

I'll put it this way, if I lived in the affected area, I wouldn't bet money in Vegas that it would happen in the next year, but I also would take it serious enough to have emergency supplies on hand to deal with it if it did happen.

Awesome post, Thanks.

But you really should remember that there is no New Madrid Fault. With Reid, Pelosi and Obama in DC. It's all Bush's Fault.

Thanks OP, this is fantastic work.

Your write-up made me wonder, did anyone report earthquake lights with either the CO or VA quakes?

I'm not seeing anything on the first page of a google search for it, but searching "lights in sky august 22|23" turns up some UFO websites with scattered sightings all over the country for the 22nd and 23rd, a handful from the affected regions. I guess make of that what you will. Might be an interesting thing to look at again in a few days once all the reports are in and they've had time to be indexed by google.

Before 2021,nothing hapened at New Madrid


Thread: New Madrid Earthuquake Prediction

I'm on the Wabash fault. I can envision the Wabash Fault triggering off another 5+ like a couple of years ago which then moves south and triggers a big one in the New Madrid. If the bridges over the Mississippi go down, survivors are going to be short of food for quite a while.

I live in East TN and wonder what type of damage would I get if there was an EQ in the NM fault. We had an EQ last year and it was just a little buzz and nothing major.

Knoxville isn't much farther away than Louisville as far as straight lines are concerned. And damage there in 1811 included toppled chimneys, with ground motions "described as most alarming and frightening." The Appalachians may shield far eastern TN from the worst of it, however.

Last Edited by Robot Emotions on 08/25/2011 12:37 AM

What a great thread! Good questions and clear answers. Definitely food for thought.
Thanks OP. 5*s and suggest a pin. Karma coming your way

Last Edited by my2centsworth on 08/25/2011 12:48 AM

Nice synopsis OP. Here is another relevant tidbit from the USGS site. [link to earthquake.usgs.gov]
And just to toss a cherry on top of this 'Doom Sundae' there are very few structures within the New Madrid fault zone that were built to withstand any sort of seismic activity. Metro St. Louis is basically brick and mortar. It would be rendered into a pile of rubble in the event of a quake along the lines of the 1800's activity.
I remember the 11/9/68 quake referenced in the last paragraph of the linked text like it was yesterday. It converted me to a prepper at the ripe old age of 8.

I live in Huntsville Al. Northern part of the state. How will it effect my area? pretty please.:)

There is an entire department at the University of Memphis devoted to the study of it though. You might be interested in checking out their site...

[link to www.ceri.memphis.edu]


Several years ago, I know that they completely re-delineated the seismic "zones" in the memphis area, and they may have some good data on possible timing as well. From what I recall, in the event of a large quake like that of 1812, most everying in the CBD (particularly the Pyramid) would either end up in the river or on the ground because it is all built on silt, and none of it was built to withstand anything of that magnitude.

They also said that most everything west of Highland would experience heavy damage. In short, much of Memphis would be toast if anything shallow and greater than a 6.0 hit.

Huntsville is about the same distance from New Madrid as Nashville. If there were a 7.5 or greater, I'd expect some light damage to housing, cracks in sheetrock, etc., perhaps moderate damage to more susceptible structure like older cinder-block buildings.

But this is just a guess, I'm no expert. The driving distance is 270 miles so you'd most likely be physically safe but would feel quite a shake.

Wow, tons of good info at their site. Thanks for the link, I'll dive into it tomorrow evening when my brain is fresh.

Thanks for the info.