THE NEXT BIG QUAKE (MADRID?)

[link to www.foreignpolicy.com]

one does wonder

Haiti's devastating earthquake -- and its horrific human toll -- caught many by surprise. But there are more little-noticed hot seismic hot spots across the globe. Here are five places that geologists worry could be the next big one.

Here is parts read the rest of it at the link

#1 UNITED STATES, LOWER MISSISSIPPI DELTA REGION Fault Line: New Madrid

Last big quake: 1812
Reasons to worry: A string of earthquakes in the early 19th century along the New Madrid fault -- covering parts of Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Mississippi -- caused the Mississippi River to flow backwards, rang church bells in Boston, and affected an area more than three times as large as the famous San Francisco quake of 1906.
Two hundred years ago, the at-risk population was minimal. Today, the major cities of Saint Louis and Memphis lie within the danger zone of arguably the United State's most threatening fault line. FEMA warned in 2008 that a major New Madrid fault earthquake could cause "the highest economic losses due to a natural disaster in the United States," largely due to a relative lack of earthquake preparation compared with California and the Pacific Northwest.

#2 TURKEY

Fault line: North Anatolian

Last big quake: Duzce, 1999
read why to worry at link

#3 Australia

Fault line: in between the Pacific, Philippine, and Eurasian plates

Last big quake: Newcastle, 1989
read why to worry at link

#4 Fault line: Himalayan Frontal Thrust, Main Boundary Thrust, Main Central Thrust

Last big quake: 1988, Nepal-India border region
read why to worry at link

#5 JAPAN

Fault line: Median Tectonic, Itoigawa-Shizuoka Tectonic, Tanakura Tectonic

Last big quake: Great Hanshin-Awaji, 1995