"We believe that there's a 25 to 40% chance of a magnitude 6 (earthquake) in the next 50 years. And a magnitude 6 is certainly enough to do some damage. And there's about a 7-10% chance of a repeat of the 1811 and1812 earthquakes in the next 50 years," Withers tells West Kentucky Star.
Withers says it's also important to realize the ground waves created by earthquakes travel much farther in this part of the country, versus a place like California.
"The eastern U.S. is old and cold. What that means, is that the rocks are a lot more competent here than they are in the western coast. It's sort of like the difference between ringing a bell and then ringing a cracked bell. The original bell rings a lot longer and a lot louder than the cracked bell does. And in California the rocks are all broken and cracked up, and here they are not," says Withers.
In a December, 2011 article about the New Madrid Earthquakes of 1811 and 1812, The Smithsonian wrote "At 2:15 am on December 16, 1811, residents of the frontier town of New Madrid, in what is now Missouri, were jolted from their beds by a violent earthquake. The ground heaved and pitched, hurling furniture, snapping trees and destroying barns and homesteads. The shaking rang church bells in Charleston, South Carolina, and toppled chimneys as far as Cincinnati, Ohio.
'The screams of the affrighted inhabitants running to and fro, not knowing where to go, or what to do—the cries of the fowls and beasts of every species—the cracking of trees falling...formed a scene truly horrible,' wrote one resident.
As people were starting to rebuild that winter, two more major quakes struck, on January 23 and February 7. Each New Madrid earthquake had a magnitude of 7.5 or greater, making them three of the most powerful in the continental United States and shaking an area ten times larger than that affected by the magnitude 7.8 San Francisco earthquake of 1906."
Withers says it's important to have an "Earthquake Kit" which is very similar to something like a Hurricane Kit or Emergency Kit that includes supplies for you and your family, along with other medically necessary things to get you through being completely on your own for up to a week. The University of Memphis maintains the seismograh stations all across the New Madrid Fault Line, including western Kentucky and southern Illinois.
According to the Red Cross, an emergency kit for you and your family should contain some of the following:
At a minimum, you should have the basic supplies listed below:
Water: one gallon per person, per day (3-day supply for evacuation, 2-week supply for home)
Food: non-perishable, easy-to-prepare items (3-day supply for evacuation, 2-week supply for home)
Flashlight
Battery-powered or hand-crank radio (NOAA Weather Radio, if possible)
Extra batteries
First aid kit
Medications (7-day supply) and medical items
Multi-purpose tool
Sanitation and personal hygiene items
Copies of personal documents (medication list and pertinent medical information, proof of address, deed/lease to home, passports, birth certificates, insurance policies)
Cell phone with chargers
Family and emergency contact information
Extra cash
Emergency blanket
Map(s) of the area
Consider the needs of all family members and add supplies to your kit. Suggested items to help meet additional needs are:
Medical supplies (hearing aids with extra batteries, glasses, contact lenses, syringes, etc)
Baby supplies (bottles, formula, baby food, diapers)
Games and activities for children
Pet supplies (collar, leash, ID, food, carrier, bowl)
Two-way radios
Extra set of car keys and house keys
Manual can opener
On the Net:
Click HERE for a full list of items to be included in an Emergency KitClick HERE to read the full story about the 1811-1812 article regarding the New Madrid Earthquakes
Click HERE for the latest earthquakes in our area by the University of Memphis
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