FEMA worried about New Madrid

So why suddenly is the New Madrid fault at the top
of their list? Is it really because of the Katrinia
response? Or is it something else? I'm betting
on the 'something else'.


www.foxnews.com...

except

AP - February 28, 2006

ST. LOUIS — Preparing for a catastrophic earthquake along the New Madrid
fault is a priority, a FEMA official said Friday before a congressional field
hearing on government readiness to handle natural disasters.

"New Madrid is at the top of the list," Michel Pawlowski, section chief of the
Federal Emergency Management Agency, said. "It's our primary objective."

Pawlowski told a congressional committee that FEMA has "significant
concerns" for the potential of a catastrophic earthquake equal in
magnitude to those that struck parts of the Mississippi River Valley
in 1811-1812, and again in 1895.

More at the site -
www.foxnews.com...

[edit on 3/2/2006 by FlyersFan]

Probably because a majority of buildings in that area are not built up to sesmic codes like hrere in Calif,so no sheer walls or let in braces will cause buildings and homes to shake apart,which will cause utter devastation,I'm thinking of deaths in 100 thousands

A high magnitude quake on the New Madrid fault could cause widespread devastation. Something like 20 states could be affected. Its a big concern, because New Madrid is approaching overdue for a big quake. As time goes on, the chance of a HIGH magnitude earthquake on the New Madrid fault increases.

And who knows, maybe they realize that they can't handle a dang thing when it comes to disaster.

--Kit.

I think Oldtimer's got it right -- buildings really aren't up to code for earthquakes. And Kitsunegari makes good points about why they're doing this.

Here's the USGS page on it:
quake.wr.usgs.gov...

Problem is, there's been a lot of areas where "high magnitude earthquakes" are "overdue" and we haven't seen the quakes. I think that the public will start getting annoyed with planning for the "dangerous but remote possibilities", particularly if plans for "fairly frequent disasters" (like floods) are ignored.

There was a program on the Weather Channel the other night called It Could Happen Tomorrow. I would say half of the reports they have done so far are nonsense. F5 hitting Dallas? Very unlikely. Major hurricane hitting NY City? Also unlikely. Mount Rainier eruption? Very possible. New Madrid quake? Very likely. Of all the programs they have run the New Madrid quake scenario is really the only one that could "happen tomorrow". It is frightening when you think of the possibility of multiple 7.0+ quakes in a month. Each quake just stacking up the damage from the previous quake. The report said the damge of a quake in this region of the country would cause damage over an area 20 times greater than a quake of the same strength on the west coast. The damage estimates they used were one hundred billion dollars. I think we know after Katrina that 100 billion goes very fast. If the early 1800's quakes were repeated I feel confident that the property damage would approach a quarter of a trillion dollars. The overall economic impact would be far worse. Something of this magnitude would thrust the US into a depression for a decade or longer. You are talking about the total destruction of Memphis and severe damage to places like St. Louis, Nashville, Louisville, Indianapolis and Cincinnati. A walk through these towns afterwards would remind you less of New Orleans and more of Biloxi. Major city centers would face severe damage. You may be looking at the collapse of many high rise buildings. Older neighborhoods would be in total ruin with fires buring out of control for days if not weeks.

I live in Indianapolis. I dread the day this happens. Most of this city will go up in flames. This city is served by natural gas. Alot of neighborhoods around town are 90 to 100 years old and all with very old gas lines. Most areas around town have aerial power lines. These will certainly come down in a major quake. This is the spark needed to cause massive gas explosions all around town. I would bet that 90 to 95% of the 1.7 million people in the metro area have absolutely no idea what to do in the event of a quake. The number of dead in this city alone from collapsing buildings and gas explosions will certainly be approaching 10,000. Thats being nice. Thats assuming it happens at night when people are at home asleep. If it happens during the day when people are in large buildings at work you could see that number multiply by 10. The numbers could be to 2 to 5 times higher in Memphis. That city will be gone. It will be nothing but a pile of rubble. Some of the buildings constructed within the past 20 years might stand. Might. The rest will surely crumble. And what gets left standing after the first 7 point quake will likely come down when the 2nd & 3rd 7 pointers hit in the following days.

How do you begin to prepare for something that would make the tsunami look like a ripple? Do you even bother to prepare or just deal with it when it happens?

Originally posted by FlyersFan
So why suddenly is the New Madrid fault at the top
of their list? Is it really because of the Katrinia
response? Or is it something else? I'm betting
on the 'something else'.


www.foxnews.com...

except

AP - February 28, 2006

ST. LOUIS — Preparing for a catastrophic earthquake along the New Madrid
fault is a priority, a FEMA official said Friday before a congressional field
hearing on government readiness to handle natural disasters.

"New Madrid is at the top of the list," Michel Pawlowski, section chief of the
Federal Emergency Management Agency, said. "It's our primary objective."

Pawlowski told a congressional committee that FEMA has "significant
concerns" for the potential of a catastrophic earthquake equal in
magnitude to those that struck parts of the Mississippi River Valley
in 1811-1812, and again in 1895.

More at the site -
www.foxnews.com...

[edit on 3/2/2006 by FlyersFan]

Bump due to human aliens thread on femas interest in the madrid fault. Seems like they have been preparing for a while..

reply to post by FlyersFan


One of the reasons for all the NMSF is because it's the bicentennial year of the first quake. Since that time, people have pretty much ignored the fact they live on shaky ground. There have been small tremblors, but nothing large since the first one. It would be devastating.
People are making a big stink that FEMA is preparing for a catastrophe so one must be coming. The time to prepare is before one comes, and FEMA is the unit that is supposed to be responsible should something happen. They were not prepared for Hurricane Katrina, and they got lots of (necessary) flack (Urban dictionary definition) about it. They don't want to be unprepared again. This is their job.............to be prepared to assist in catastrophes. Let them do it!

Does anyone know what effect this would have in NY?

Well if it happens FEMA won't be around to help for weeks so they can "prepare" all they want. Running around writing checks for houses and bidness demolished won't do much if this thing pops. First responders and more importantly citizens will have to be prepared to deal with this one. Sadly many have the "big brudder will save me" attitude and will not be prepared and will be the first to scream and howl when they have to fend for themselves for a while.

Something must be up. FEMA has scheduled a National Level Event practice in May of this year. I live along the New Madrid fault about 35 miles from Reelfoot Lake. Most of the latest activity has been centered in central Arkansas. IF it goes it will be a heck of a ride !!!

reply to post by FlyersFan


I just started a second thread on just this from a YouTuber who I have come to respect a lot!

Are they preparing for a PRETEND event near New Madrid fault line?
www.abovetopsecret.com...

First thread:

MORE PROOF that they intend to create a disaster!!!
www.abovetopsecret.com...



This is NOT feeling good folks!

Take it down a notch people. The beautiful thing about earthquakes is that they can be prepared for with minimal damage, loss of human life, etc. Just compare last year's quakes in Haiti to Chile

People who live in "earthquake country" - like around the ring of fire - go through drills often and most people have a plan, stash of water and food, kids are trained in case they aren't home, maps and evacuation plan, etc. Emergency personnel need to be trained too, and kept fresh on response, and of course it can always go more smoothly. This is a really good thing.

I don't think FEMA is worried. They are preparing. This is what they do. Or what we hope they do.

Its the anniversary of the New Madrid earthquakes in 1811-12 (earthquake.usgs.gov...) so a great time to bring awareness to a public who often ignore earthquake preparedness.

In 2008, FEMA released a study examining the impact of a 7.7 on the New Madrid:

"The study, the first of its kind to be conducted on such a large scale, is part of FEMA's NMSZ Catastrophic Earthquake Disaster Response Planning Initiative. It is primarily intended to provide scientific data upon which to base response and recovery planning for the devastating earthquakes that have long been predicted for the New Madrid region, which includes areas of Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee. "

Full article here:
www.fema.gov...

To download the study:
mae.cee.uiuc.edu...

FYI - blogs.riverfronttimes.com...
"The study commissioned by the Federal Emergency Management Agency found that such a temblor could leave 3,500 dead, 80,000 injured and 7 million temporarily homeless. Particularly hard hit would be St. Louis and Memphis -- the two largest cities near the fault.

The study predicts that Memphis residents could be without water for days if not weeks. In St. Louis structural damage to buildings and homes would be significant.

The Associated Press reports that FEMA is planning on holding a national-level disaster drill in 2011 simulating a big New Madrid quake."

The Great Central US Shake Out is this drill
www.shakeout.org...

There are also Great Shake Outs in CA and OR.

Originally posted by ns9504
There are also Great Shake Outs in CA and OR.

And there was a province wide one today in British Columbia, Canada