Frequency of earthquakes It hit a 150-foot-tall ridge in the Midwest that scientists fear is overdue for a major earthquake.
This iconic New Madrid sits in America’s Heartland, passing through Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky and Illinois.
The US Geological Survey has recorded eight earthquakes from December 6 to 11.
Missouri faced seven that hit Howardville, Matthews, Martson Hayward and Cooter, and Ridgely, Tennessee experienced.
The largest earthquakes were magnitudes 3.0 and 2.6 that struck near Howardville, and the rest measured around magnitude 2.
Everyone an earthquake less than 2.5 is not felt, but the tremor can be detected by a seismograph.
Scientists have warned that the fault line could develop to magnitude 7 or more in the next 50 years.
The chance of an earthquake the size of it it’s about 40 percent, but ‘every year that goes by, the chances get bigger,’ said Robbie Myers, emergency coordinator for the Missouri Department of Safety.
At least seven earthquakes shook the region within nine hours, with the 3.0-magnitude one at 6:27am ET.
And on December 11, the eight were found in Howardville.
The area has not experienced a major earthquake in over 200 years.
The last major earthquake occurred between 1811 and 1812 when three earthquakes struck that were ‘reportedly between 7 and 8,’ according to the US Geological Survey.
The group destroyed villages and ‘had a major impact on the area,’ officials said.
Although this week’s earthquake is not a sign that New Madrid is about to experience a major earthquake, experts say that people living in the area should always be prepared for a major earthquake.
A magnitude 8 earthquake in the region could kill thousands of people, destroy bridges over seas Mississippi The river, it dams highways like Interstate 55 and causes oil and gas pipelines to break, Myers told DailyMail.com earlier.
Experts believe Great destruction will occur in St. Louis, Missouri, and Memphis, Tennessee. But such an event will disturb the whole world.
A destructive earthquake of magnitude 6 or greater occurs once every 80 years in the New Madrid Seismic Zone (NMSZ), according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
The last such magnitude was a 6.6 event in 1895 near Charleston, Missouri – 129 years ago. Therefore, this problem was delayed for a long time due to the great earthquake.
‘(An earthquake) in the next 50 years is very possible, and people need to be careful,” Myers said.
‘Right now there is nothing else to worry about. And every year they go, the chances get bigger.’
The 150-mile-long New Madrid Seismic Zone (NMSZ), which runs through parts of Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky and Illinois, has a 40 percent chance of an earthquake of magnitude 6 or greater in the next 50 years.
About 11 million Americans live in hazardous areas, and the worst damage is expected to occur in St Louis and Memphis, an expert told DailyMail.com.
The NMSZ is one of the most seismically active areas east of the Rocky Mountains. Therefore, hives like Monday are not unusual.
Most earthquakes are characterized by small or moderate earthquakes occurring at short intervals.
Scientists are still investigating the cause of the earthquake, but they have other ideas.
A possible explanation is that the fault is slowly slipping, and smaller particles are being released and creating smaller earthquakes, according to the USGS.
Alternatively, magma – or molten rock – may be pushing underground, opening a path for itself by fracturing the rock in front of it and triggering a series of earthquakes.
But in most cases, earthquakes appear to be caused by the gradual release of tectonic stress along faults, or changes in the ground surface, according to the USGS.
Although the NMSZ produces frequent earthquakes, its relatively small size and shallowness do not contribute much to the seismicity of the region.
Instead, most US earthquake preparedness is focused on California, where experts say ‘The Big One’ is 80 years away. along the 800 km long San Andreas fault.
This focus on California has made it difficult for experts in Missouri and other NMSZ states to convince officials and the public to be prepared.
But the effects of the earthquake in the area could be more widespread than it is written on the West CoastThe Missouri Department of Natural Resources said.
‘Because of the nature of the subsurface in the central United States, earthquakes in the region can shaking an area about 20 times larger than the earthquakes in California,’ department officials wrote in a blog post.
