[Homestead] Shake, rattle and roll

Gene GeRue genegerue at ruralize.com
Fri Apr 18 17:24:12 EDT 2008


On Apr 18, 2008, at 3:43 PM, VAN DELL JORDAN wrote:

> The quake woke up my son and d.i.l.  We are about 310
> road miles from the epicenter.
> Some predictions are that a major one at New Madrid
> could be worse than anything we've ever seen in Cal.
> Soft ground would cause it to spread much further to a
> dozen or so major cities that are not build for
> earthquake protection.

New Madrid was not an item that I considered when finding my ideal  
place. But I have been happy to learn that the googolplex tons of  
stone between there and here effectively absorb shock waves. This  
morning's quake was reported felt as far away as Milwaukee. I felt not  
a thing.

The real fear about New Madrid is that the population and number and  
size of structures built since the big ones of 1811-1812 mean that the  
destruction, if the same presumed Richter number of 7.5 to 8.0, would  
be catastrophic. It would dwarf the devastation of Hurricane Katrina,  
which killed nearly 2,000 people. It would, in fact, be the most  
deadly disaster in the history of the country. Even worse than the  
last seven years.


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