Midwest earthquake??

Yep. The Mississippi River might change course so much that the Tunica "riverboat" casinos, might actually be in the river. Senatobia might become a port city, while Baton Rouge and New Orleans might not be any longer.

 

C'mon. As if FEMA would let that happen.

 

You're doing a heck of a job, Acey.

 

I live down thataway, and the thought of a major earthquake makes me shudder. Especially if it were to hit now, or in a situation like we have right now with a major flood occurring Mississippi River. A 7.0 or 8.0 quake would not be good for the levees and control structures that keep the Mississippi where it is. You'd have two disasters -- both of which would make Katrina look like a preparedness drill -- for the price of one.

 

The levees won't matter if the New Madrid lets loose. It'll cause the river to change course so dramatically that'll be cutting a new channel between St. Louis and Memphis. By the time it gets to Vicksburg, the river might be 100 miles away.

 

When I was a kid living in St. Charles, Mo., in the 1970s, the New Madrid rumbled just a little. The plants on the metal plant stand shook, and the sidewalk outside the house had a new crack in it.
If the New Madrid lets loose with a Northridge type quake, downtown St. Louis is toast. I wonder about the Arch, though. If its base is all the way down to bedrock, it might be the only thing left standing, because sure a shit the hotels are going down.

 

Felt it here in Cincinnati. I was up, cruising the 'net and thought just my leg was shaking -- I've been diagnosed with some weird brain activity that had my hand quivering before, so I thought "Shit, now my leg's doing it." But then I noticed my Pepsi was sloshing back and forth in the glass. Aha, it's an earthquake.
No damage. No car alarms. Just panicky tv hacks on the air doing their chicken little schtick. Felt the aftershock, too, at about 10:30am.

 

The Mississippi's course was changed in the quake of 12/16/1811, but not 100 miles. But it was the strongest earthquake in lower-48 U.S. history, an 8.1. And there was a follow-up 8 on the fault three months later, in 1812, with a 7.8 in between.
Here's a link:
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/states/events/1811-1812.php#december_16

 

Yes, but that was back before damming of the Mississippi and several of the tributaries. Nobody is sure what'll happen to the river now.

What's scary to think about is the economic impact a major quake would have on the national economy. A lot of shipping happens on that river between New Orleans and Memphis and St. Louis. FedEx's main hub is Memphis. And imagine what would happen to shipping costs if truckers had to route around the I-40 bridge up to I-70 (or farther north) because of damage.

 

i didnt feel anything, and im about two and a half hours from evansville. but i can sleep through anything, so i dont know if it actually did anything here.

 

Just an excuse for journalists to use the word temblor for no good reason.

 

Yeah, I'm sure the people in New Orleans felt the same way about their hurricane insurance before they were told "Oh, well, we cover the Hurricane part, but not water damage." How the fuck are the two not related?

If I were one of those unforunate enough to be out there, you can bet your ass I'd be in cuffs mighty quickly. As soon as they refused to pay me, my first responce would be "What the fuck do you mean hurricane insurance doesn't cover water damage? What the fuck do you think caused all this flooding? Oh, I see, you must have thougt I left the bath tub running."

When the big one hits, I can see insurance companies coming up with some lame-ass attempt at snaking out of paying up.

"I'm sure Mr. Smith, we can cover the cost of your car alarm going off and the picture frames falling, but unfortunately, earthquake insurance doesn't cover weak building foundations. If you'd have made your house stronger, it wouldn't have fallen. Here, have a cookie."