Can you see the New Madrid fault line?
Can you see the New Madrid fault line?
The New Madrid Fault, also called the New Madrid seismic zone, is actually a series of faults, or fractures, at a weak spot in the earth’s crust called the Reelfoot Rift. It lies deep in the earth and cannot be seen from the surface. The fault line runs roughly 150 miles from Arkansas into Missouri and Illinois.
What cities would be affected by the New Madrid Fault?
The New Madrid Fault extends approximately 120 miles southward from the area of Charleston, Missouri, and Cairo, Illinois, through Mew Madrid and Caruthersville, following Interstate 55 to Blytheville, then to Marked Tree Arkansas.
What would happen if the New Madrid fault line went off?
Nearly 200 schools and over 100 fire stations would be damaged; 37 hospitals and 67 police stations would be inoperable the day after the earthquake in the state of Missouri. Thousands of bridges would collapse and railways would be destroyed, paralyzing travel across southeast Missouri.
What states are mostly affected by the New Madrid Fault?
New Madrid Seismic Zone (NMSZ), region of poorly understood, deep-seated faults in Earth’s crust that zigzag southwest-northeast through Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee, and Kentucky, U.S. Lying in the central area of the North American Plate, the seismic zone is about 45 miles (70 km) wide and about 125 miles (200 km) …
When was the last time the New Madrid Fault went off?
The last strong earthquake (magnitude 6.7) in the NMSZ occurred near Charleston, Missouri on Oct. 31, 1895. A magnitude 6.3 earthquake near Lepanto, Arkansas on Jan. 5, 1843 and was the next prior earthquake of this magnitude.
When was the last time the New Madrid Fault was active?
February 7, 1812
It was December 16, 1811, and it was the first of at least three very large (M7 or greater) earthquakes and thousands of aftershocks to rock the region that winter, with the last occurring on February 7, 1812.
Where is the largest fault line in the United States?
Denali Fault Zone The largest recorded earthquake on American soil hit Alaska in 2002 and was estimated from 7.0 to 7.9 with a surface wave magnitude of close to 8.5 (!) This monster quake caused massive damage to infrastructure in central Alaska.
What is the future of earthquakes in New Madrid?
Probability. Some scientists believe the probability of a large earthquake (magnitude 7.0-8.0) is about 10% in 50 years. Due to their infrequency, the recurrence interval of moderate to large earthquakes in the NMSZ is very hard to predict.