15 of the 104 Nuclear Plants in the U.S. are Located in the New Madrid Earthquake Zone, the Other Sleeping Giant

The New Madrid Seismic Zone - The Other Sleeping Giant

Outside of the west coast, the New Madrid seismic zone is the highest earthquake risk in the United States. Although not as active as the San Andreas Fault in California, when this sleeping giant awakens, the destruction covers 20 times the punch because of the mere scope of the geographic area it encompasses. According to some scientists, the possibility of a major earthquake measuring 7.5 or greater happens every 200 years. The last time it occurred in this region was the Great New Madrid Earthquake of 1811-1812, so we are right on schedule should the giant awaken from his 200-year slumber. With the active fault lines not visible to the naked eye, it may be difficult with 100% accuracy to speculate when the next “Great Quake” will occur. If it does occur within our lifetime, it is estimated that its effects would damage 20 or more states. It is hard to fathom the devastation of such an event. Something like this could literally split the U.S. in two, causing the economy to plummet further; and the loss of life would be enormous.

May 17, 2011

Examiner.com - The New Madrid Seismic Zone (NMSZ) has received a lot of media attention lately, as the area has been subject to record flooding, monster tornadoes, increased seismic activity, thousands of mysterious Red Winged Blackbird and fish deaths, sinkholes, and most recently, levees being bombed by the US Army Corps of Engineers.

When many people hear the name “New Madrid,” they automatically think it is located somewhere in Spain; however, this sleeping giant's fault line actually lies smack dab in the middle of the Midwestern and Southern United States.

The name does however share some Spanish roots, as it is named after the town of New Madrid (located in the state of Missouri). Back in 1788 when this town was part of the Louisiana territory, it had been a colony of Spain. Historically, this town is best known for notoriously being ravaged by 1000 earthquakes between 1811-1812 when the “Great Quakes” measuring magnitude 7+ rattled the region. It is from this town's name, and the infamous wrath that plagued it, that the name “New Madrid Seismic Zone” was born.

The New Madrid Fault Line runs 150 miles and lies beneath the states of: Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, and Tennessee. It not only crosses five state lines, it also cuts the Mississippi River in three places and the Ohio River in two places.

Although hidden, the fault is active, and measures more than 200 measured events a year. Outside of the west coast, it is the highest earthquake risk in the United States. Although not as active as the San Andreas Fault in California, when this sleeping giant awakens, the destruction covers 20 times the punch because of the mere scope of the geographic area it encompasses.

Recently, Arkansas was (for the most part), the area along the fault that saw the most recent seismic activity. In fact, the number of quakes Arkansas experienced in 2010 was almost equivalent to what the state experienced in the entire twentieth century.

The active faults within the NMSZ are poorly understood and cannot easily be studied like other active fault regions (like California) because they are not expressed at the ground surface. Complicating matters further, the faults are hidden beneath a couple hundred feet of thick layers of soft river deposited soils called alluvium. Since alluvium is very soft, it erodes in a very short time or may be quickly covered over by new deposits, thereby quickly hiding evidence of earthquake fault lines.

According to some scientists, the possibility of a major earthquake measuring 7.5 or greater happens every 200 years. The last time it occurred in this region was the Great New Madrid Earthquake of 1811-1812, so I guess we are right on schedule should the giant awaken from his 200 year slumber.

FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) is conducting a National Level exercise within the New Madrid region on May 16th. The purpose of this training exercise is to simulate the catastrophic nature of an earthquake of this magnitude within this region. With 2011 being the bicentennial anniversary of the great quakes of 1811-1812, holding these exercises at this time is quite fitting.

One does not have to look very long for information about the New Madrid fault line: the web is a buzz with countless conspiracy theory views of how HAARP (High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program) will initiate a quake in this region.

Many bloggers question why FEMA ordered emergency blankets, underwater body bags, food and water for 7 million survivors within the New Madrid Seismic region, and question why they would spend so much money on something that may happen. Other bloggers speculate that natural gas “fracking” is causing disastrous cracking in the fault line, weakening it further, and that if an earthquake does happen, the natural gas locations would blow in a domino-effect-like fashion one after the other.

Other conspiracy theorists warn that several nuclear facilities lay along the New Madrid Fault Line and that what recently occurred in Fukushima Japan could actually occur on US soil. Other bloggers point out the striking resemblance of geographic flooding in the NMSZ region as almost identical to that depicted in a future map of the USA (put by the US Navy) that shows the US West Coast, the New Madrid Seismic Zone area, as well as the Eastern seaboard, as being all submerged under water.

Others speculate that the US Geological Centre (USGC) is taking down larger scale earthquakes in the NMSZ as quickly as they prop up on their website, and that there is an ever growing mass media “black out” on mysterious events that have plagued the USA.

With the active fault lines not visible to the naked eye, making it difficult for scientist to study, it may be difficult with 100% accuracy to speculate when the next “Great Quake” will occur. If it does occur within our lifetime, it is estimated that its effects would damage 20 or more states, with the state of Missouri alone having sustained at least $6 billion in loss and damages.

It is difficult to fathom the devastation of such an event. Something like this could literally split the US in two, causing the economy to plummet further; and the loss of life would be enormous.

Only Mother Nature knows when “Her Giant” will awaken, but I do hope that this “Giant” will remain asleep for a very long time, experiencing only dreams of awakening.

Slide Show: New Madrid Seismic Zone

Fifteen U.S. Nuclear Reactors are Located in an Active Seismic Zone

March 29, 2011

Homeland Security Newswire - There are 104 nuclear plants in the United States, and fifteen of them are located in what is known as the New Madrid Seismic Zone, a region defined by a fault line of the same name.

While the U.S. earthquake zone is active, scientists say the ingredients do not exist there for a Japan-style nuclear disaster.

“There is that uncertainty when you hear that something has happened because you don’t understand,” said Jeff King, interim director of the Nuclear Science and Engineering Program at the Colorado School of Mines. “I would say Americans should actually be very comfortable (about) those plants.”

King, a former Department of Energy nuclear facility on-site inspector, is not working directly with officials on the Japan disaster, and he noted that it will be some time before a final report is completed.

He told Fox News that the early diagnosis for the nuclear accident in Japan had more to do with the tsunami that followed the 11 March earthquake and the power loss to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear facility than the 8.9 magnitude temblor.

“The distinction — the earthquake and the tsunami — is kind of an important one,” he said. “The plant survived the earthquake with minimal problems; there’re some questions about the spent fuel pools, but minimal problems. And then it was an hour later when the tsunami hit and they lost all of the their backup power.”

Fox News reports that DHS is scheduled to conduct a large-scale, interagency disaster response exercise in the New Madrid Seismic Zone this spring. It is an annual exercise held by the federal government, and Homeland Security secretary Janet Napolitano’s office said the location of this year’s drill is not connected to events in Japan.

“With respect to the United States, we are constantly practicing” disaster response, Napolitano recently told an audience in Denver.

Robert Williams, a scientist with the U.S. Geological Survey’s Hazards Team, said the New Madrid Seismic Zone involves eight states, and it is an active earthquake area in the central United States that follows the Mississippi River between Missouri, Kentucky, Arkansas, and Tennessee.

“It’s an area that is currently experiencing earthquakes and has a history of magnitude 7 to 8 earthquakes,” Williams said. “But the shaking from a New Madrid quake would involve a much larger area. So it runs along that border, and it’s of concern to those communities in the Mississippi River valley as well as Memphis and St. Louis.”

Should a large seismic event strike this part of the country, seismologists offer Christchurch, New Zealand, rather than Japan, as an example of what to expect. In February, Christchurch suffered a 6.3 magnitude quake and billions of dollars in losses.

“Christchurch has a building infrastructure that’s a lot like what you find in the central U.S. main street: 100-year-old brick buildings, no reinforcement, no consideration of earthquake shaking,” Williams said.

King, who used to live in the New Madrid region, agreed that infrastructure outside the nuclear plants is the bigger concern. “

If I still lived in that area, my biggest worry would be the loss of my utilities, the loss of my power and water,” he said. “The real tragedy in the case of a natural disaster is going to be the natural disaster, not the nuclear power plant.”