Lori Young Verified

Oh it's just as bad up here in Chicago. Yesterday there was an earthquake on the New Madrid fault which is nearly 300 miles from here. While yes, we did feel it up here a wee bit, the newcasters talked about it for four hours straight. Everything became related to the earthquake. My favorite was when then finally took a breath to give a traffic report, a piece of metal that was blocking one of the lanes of the interstate "might be there because of the earthquake"? Huh...even at the epicenter only a few buildings were damaged, but somehow a minor vibration that wasn't even as much as a low flying jet caused huge chunks of metal to be flung from a truck. Wow!

On the other hand I've been in Dallas during one of your "snow storms" and your news folks acted like it was the apocalypse. I kept having to peek out my hotel window to make sure I was in the same weather system that they were reporting on.

5 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Scott Doyle Verified

Lori, in their defense (and as I'm sure you know): the New Madrid Seismic Zone is given a 90% chance to release a quake by 2040 that's at least 6.0 magnitude.

The great New Madrid quakes of 1811 & 1812 which drained lakes, formed new ones, redirected the Mississippi River, etc were guesstimated to range between 7.0 & 8.0 richters, however an upper 6 would still put a ridiculous hurt on the midwest since many structures still aren't properly braced (we didn't listen!).

• Comparison: the 1895 Charleston, Missouri, earthquake in the New Madrid seismic zone with the 1994 Northridge, California, earthquake. Red indicates area of structural damage, yellow indicates area where shaking was felt.

New Madrid Zone's Wiki has more info for those interested, but that's only if the GLOBAL WARMING doesn't get us first, Lori!

5 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Lori Young Verified

Oh, I know all about the fault being ready to go any second. I actually have earthquake insurance on my house. I think I'm the only one that's ever asked my agent about it. He thought I was crazy. It was a whole whopping $30 a year. Skip going out to dinner one night a year and I'm all paid up in case that thing snaps.

5 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Scott Doyle Verified

If/when I buy a home I'll probably get coverage, even in TX. Most policies exclude earth movement, not simply quakes - and I don't want to be boned if there's a subsidence of any kind.

While I was goofing around, I found a pretty awesome Dept of Agriculture tool that shows soil surveys:

http://websoilsurvey.nrcs.usda.gov/ap...

Survey for my apt complex is pretty recent - Jan 3, 2007. It's all clay down to 6.5 feet. sigh

5 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Lori Young Verified

If you would like to talk about the effects of earthquakes on soil, it just so happens that someone I know works for the U.S. Geological survey on just that subject. But that's just her day job...when she's not poking dirt with a stick, she's Big Lou "Accordion Princess" formerly of Those Darn Accordions and Polkacide. http://www.accordionprincess.com/

5 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Scott Doyle Verified

I love how the slow news day article's comments are full of insurance and soil talk.

Fear-mongering is always fun, though (both to practice and say).

Your friend's website hurts the eyes, btw. I vote you link her to the thread so she can tell us just how boned we might be. South TX actually had a rare quake recently, and hats off to Eric Berger for the headline "Tiny temblor a big deal in Texas".

5 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )