This video shows a computer simulation of a magnitude 7.7 earthquake in the New Madrid Seismic Zone.
But I really wonder why the USGS simulates such cataclysmic event. Is there something we don’t know going on?
The new simulations of 1811-1812 New Madrid earthquake show strong and prolonged ground shaking:
And the lead researcher to add:
[quote_box_center]Based on our simulations, were the 1811-1812 earthquakes to repeat today, more than 8 million people living and working near the New Madrid seismic zone would experience potentially damaging ground shaking at modified Mercalli intensities ranging from VI to VIII[/quote_box_center]
Moreover:
[quote_box_center]Strong ground shaking in the greater Memphis metropolitan area could last from 30 seconds to more than 60 seconds, depending on the magnitude and epicenter of a potential seismic event[/quote_box_center]
That’s really incredible. Let’s hope we don’t have to find out just how bad it would be anytime soon.
The research study entitled:”Ground‐Motion Simulations of 1811–1812 New Madrid Earthquakes, Central United States” was published in the Bulletin of Seismological Society of America.
[…] Earthquakes in the central and eastern U.S. can be felt over an area as much as ten times larger than a similar magnitude earthquake on the west coast.This animation shows the simulated ground motion of the Earth’s surface that could occur in the central U.S. region for a magnitude 7.7 strike-slip earthquake on the southern section of the New Madrid seismic zone: […]
[…] Madrid County, Missouri has a shaky history, with the most violent series of earthquakes ever recorded in the United States hitting in New Madrid in about a seven week stretch between 1811 and […]