[InHam] Fw: Good Reason to prepare now!!!!

[Paul Webster]

Hello to All, 

Those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it. 

This is very interesting & eye opening. 


--- On Tue, 12/16/08, WhittinghamD at usa.redcross.org <WhittinghamD at usa.redcross.org> wrote:
From: WhittinghamD at usa.redcross.org <WhittinghamD at usa.redcross.org>
Subject: This date in History 12/16
To: ka9jwx at yahoo.com
Date: Tuesday, December 16, 2008, 11:50 AM

Just thought I would pass this on.  :)   Duane


On December 16, 1811, the 400 residents of New Madrid, Missouri, were
shaken out of their beds at two in the morning by a violent
earthquake. Huge cracks split
the ground. The waters of the Mississippi rose and fell like a great
tide. Giant waves rose up and swept north, giving the impression that
the river was actually flowing backwards. Boats along the river were
engulfed, capsized, and their crews drowned.

The "New
 Orleans" was one of the lucky ones. The first steamboat to
ply the Mississippi River, she was embarked on her maiden voyage. At
dusk she tied up at an island in the middle of the stream. Then, in
the wee hours, the boat was nearly swamped by a series of enormous
waves. As the deck pitched and yawed, the crew and the few passengers
on board held on for their lives. Later, one of the crew said it was
like being in the middle of an ocean during a violent storm.

All along the riverbank, high bluffs crumbled into the water.
Seemingly solid ground undulated in waves. Old river channels slammed
shut and new ones opened, changing the course of the stream forever.
One large lake had its water suddenly replaced by sand. Another lake,
Reelfoot, was created in a matter of moments.

Trees toppled or were drowned when the land sank suddenly beneath
them. Log cabins scattered like match sticks in New Madrid
 but,
luckily, only one person was killed by falling debris.

Effects of the quake were widespread. Damage was reported as far east
as Charleston, South Carolina and Washington, DC. In Boston,
Massachusetts, 1,000 miles away, church bells were made to ring. The
effects of the quake were felt as far south as New Orleans and as far
north as Canada.

The gigantic shake in the early morning of December 16 was only the
first in a series of four. There was a second shock hours later. A
third quake rocked the area on January 23 and a fourth -- the biggest
of all -- was felt on February 7. Between the major quakes, there
were thousands of aftershocks.

It is not known how many were killed or injured in the New Madrid
Earthquakes, but casualties were probably light. In 1811-1812, the
area was sparsely populated. Today, of course, that is far from the
case. If the same thing had happened in the year 2000, say
 during the
late afternoon, casualties would have been staggering and property
loses would tally in the billions of dollars.

Some scientists claim that the so-called "Big One" will not happen on
the West Coast at all. Rather, a surprising number of them argue that
the next sizable shake might occur along the New Madrid Fault,
probably by the year 2010. Other authorities, like The Central United
States Earthquake Consortium, say there is a 90 percent chance of a
magnitude six or seven earthquake hitting the Mississippi Valley
within the next 50 years. The National Earthquake Center of the U.S.
Geological Survey (USGS) is more general in its prediction. It
suggests that the possibility of such an earthquake "might occur as
soon as next year or as late as several thousand years hence." But
all have come to the same conclusion. Disaster will strike the
Mississippi again.

The New Madrid Fault extends from
 eastern Arkansas to about the
junction of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers. It is called a failed
rift -- that is, a fault not located near one of the several large
tectonic plates that float on the hot mantle of the earth. Most
earthquakes -- like those in California and Japan --occur where the
plates grind past each other. The geology in these earthquake
zones is different. The ground here is warmer from the heat coming
from inside the earth -- somewhat elastic. Not so at New Madrid.

Here the ground is cold and brittle. When it moves, there is no
elasticity so there is more widespread damage. A sizable quake, such
as the ones in 1811-1812, would cause extensive devastation and loss
of life. The cities of Memphis, Tennessee, and St. Louis, Missouri
would be hit head-on. There would be enormous damage in Kentucky,
Ohio, Illinois, Arkansas, Indiana and Mississippi. Yet, some
people in these areas are barely
 aware that the possibility of a major
earthquake exists.

However, there are voices crying in the wilderness and they are
beginning to be heard. In 1983, at the urging of the USGS, the states
of Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi and Tennessee
formed the Central United States Earthquake Consortium (CUSEC). The
organization is currently embarked on an intensive program of public
education and awareness. Through their urging, for instance,
earthquake education is now included in the curriculum of public
schools in many CUSEC states.

Furthermore, an extensive scientific study has been launched to study
area soils to determine where earthquake damage would be the most
severe. And most of the CUSEC states have adopted building codes with
earthquake design standards to meet the coming emergency.

Authorities in California know, even with their extensive earthquake
preparations, that if a
 large earthquake hits a highly populated area
there will be wide-spread devastation. The magnitude 6.7 earthquake
that struck Northridge in 1994 cost 33 lives and destroyed property
worth $20 billion.

How many more deaths would be caused in the vulnerable Midwest by a
similar quake, or stronger, around rush hour? The prospect is almost
too fearsome to contemplate.


(c) 2002 Pagewise

73/75 de ka9jwx, Paul

John 3:16

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