Missouri Geological Hazards

Fault. As I researched, the reality of the potential effects to our state came into light. To be perfectly honest, I don’t think I had ever even heard of the New Madrid Fault. It could have been mentioned in my 7th grade Earth Science class, but that’s been a few years ago. As my internet investigation into the New Madrid Fault unfurled, the predictions of a massive earthquake happening in the region within the next 50 years was mentioned a number of times. So I thought I would begin my research into the history of the New Madrid Fault in regards to our state. Which lead me to think is our state prepared for an earthquake? What would the response be, not only from an emergency management point of view, but I will draw from my experience as a member of the Air National Guard.

California’s unique geography as a state makes it a very appealing place to call home. From the odd east to west transverse San Gabriel mountain ranges of the Los Angeles Basin, to the bumpy coastal ranges of the Bay Area, any person can find a compatible topographic terrain to their liking. California may seem to be the perfect place to live with its ideal climate and extensive geographic features. However, due to California’s location over the shifting continental plates, coupled with its enormous and also multiple faults, at any time this great state can fall victim to a seismic disaster. After examining evidence from both Rong-Gong Lin’s II Los Angeles Times article of April 18, 2016 and the NOVA videos Killer Quake ( 2006), Earthquake (2007), as well as Geologic Journey II – Episode 3 (The Pacific Rim: Americas) – Part 3 (San Francisco) and The Great San Francisco Earthquake (American Experience ~ 2005), one can take a comparative account of the three major earthquakes of California’s past. Although each earthquake was very devastating on is own; the Great Quake 0f 1906, the Loma Prieta quake of 1989, and the NorthRidge quake of 1994 each amounted to an extensive forfeiture of property and life. Each of these earthquakes created much suffering and loss. It is imperative for each citizen of this great state to understand the damage that a California quake can actually do and be prepared; for the threat of one always looms.

George Heinrich Crist, a resident of Kentucky, was settled with his family in a well-built house when the New Madrid Earthquake of 1811 came across their path, unlike a storm this “thing” had no warnings. He chose to share his account of this quake, or quakes. This was part of his life and also a part of history in the making so that is why I believe he shared his personal essay. It’s not an argumentative account but rather short entries from 5 months from his life. Kentucky wasn’t the only state that was hurt, 6 other states were involved. The term “New Madrid Earthquake” refers to portions of Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee and Mississippi. This was the biggest earthquake (series of earthquakes) as it changed the course of the Mississippi river.

We learned that Little Cottonwood Canyon is home to geological history, varying rock formations, earthquake potential, ancient glacial formations, landslides, and our effect. This Canyon runs along the Wasatch fault and has much potential for large earthquakes. The mountains have been carved by glacial formations dated back to the Ice Age. Rock falls and landslides have left large boulders as evidence of erosion and moisture in the rocks. The hazards on this mountain range are mass wasting, radon, earthquakes, and the flooding of Little Cottonwood

The earthquake was felt from southern Oregon to south of Los Angeles and inland as far as central Nevada, an area of approximately 200,000 square miles. The ground motion caused by the earthquake source is recorded by instruments called seismographs. The zigzag trace made by a seismograph, called a "seismogram," reflects the changing amplitude and frequency content of the ground shaking beneath the instrument (usgs.gov). Using seismograms, scientists can determine the time, the epicenter, the depth, and the type of faulting of an earthquake as well as estimate how much energy was released by it.

When a huge storm caused the Missouri River to overflow in 1993, its water swept through Hardin. Water swept through Hardin,destroying homes and other buildings. Then something terrible happened that the town would never be the same: the dead rose up from the cemetery. It destroyed homes and buildings, and unearthing nearly 600 coffins from the local cemetery. As storm after storm pummeled the Midwestern United States, rivers began to overflow their banks. Throughout the summer, floodwater destroyed homes and businesses, and roads and bridges were washed away. The flooding didn’t and unit fall, and by then, more 20 million acres of land. Fifty people had died, and 55,000 homes were damaged or destroyed.

One of the geologic hazards in Nevada is the Mountain ranges. The reason these are hazards is because most of the ranges in Nevada have a major fault line on either side of them. Some of these faults have been active within the last 1.6 million years, and have had large earthquakes. This causes the ranges to tilt and shift and raised the ranges to higher levels. As far as seismic activity goes, Nevada is the third most active state in the nation. There is an earthquake in Nevada of a 7 or greater approximately once every thirty years. There are strike slip faults in the northwest region of the state. The border of California had what is called Walker Lane. This area

A ‘hazard’ can be defined as a geophysical process operating within the lithosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere or biosphere which could potentially lead to the loss of human life or property. However, an earthquake only becomes hazardous and therefore needs management if it occurs within close proximity to a vulnerable population. To some extent, any human settlement around the world situated close to or on top of an area of seismic activity is vulnerable. However, not all nations suffer equal devastation.

The New Madrid Seismic Zone has remained relatively quiet in the last 2000 years, with the largest earthquake only being rated a 6.3 on the richter scale, occurring in 1895. Since 1974, seismometers have been utilized to capture earthquakes that are too small to notice, known as microearthquakes. These microearthquakes have been recorded in numbers greater than 4,000 since 1975. These shocks were first thought to be aftershocks of the earthquakes that occurred 165 years ago, but with the exponential amount of recurrence, there is something rumbling deep in the earth's crust. Clearly, the New Madrid Seismic Zone is anything but quiet. The candid truth is it is not a matter of if , but when. The Seismic Zone is long overdue for an earthquake. Susan Hough, a seismologist of the United States Geological Survey told NPR ,that “Even though we can't predict earthquakes, we can predict the rates of aftershocks over time. The frequency of aftershocks - smaller quakes that follow the big earthquake - decreases with time, known in seismology as Omori's Law. And in the New Madrid Seismic Zone, the aftershocks aren't following Omori's Law." So will America experience another 1811 quake? Although time will tell, we better

A swarming number of 30 earthquakes have happened in less than 19 hours, weather.com reports. Two earthquakes happened within 30 seconds of each other. The first had a magnitude of 4.7, and the second had a magnitude of 4.8. All 30 earthquakes have happened in the state of Oklahoma. Home to Oklahoma City, Fairview, and other highly populated cities. The earthquakes were felt as far as the eastern Texas panhandle, Kansas, Wichita, and many other near places around the map. What is so crazy about this certain event is that there were only 42 earthquakes TOTAL in Oklahoma in 2010. Within 19 hours, Oklahoma has managed to almost reach the number. According to USA Today, the state has hit 70 earthquakes in a week. Oklahoma is home to huge gas and

Maryland has weak geological features fundamental to produce earthquakes. The state lies towards the central North American plate and is a long distance from plate boundaries, subduction zones, and hotspots. Those geological features release vibration movement towards the Earth's crust creating earthquakes. However, Maryland has a moderate Earthquake hazard risk, and it has a reasonable chance of experiencing higher earthquakes. The current U.S. National Seismic Hazard map reveals that most of the state is part of the hazard risk zone which Engineers and planners need to form better solutions to prevent future earthquake hazards.

Have you noticed the amount of natural disasters that have occurred lately? Recently, natural disasters have been happening such as hurricane Harvey, Irma, and the 7.1 magnitude earthquake Mexico experienced. Sadly, California could be next to be hit from an earthquake.

Earthquake Hazards occur when there are adverse effects on human activities. This can include surface faulting, ground shaking and liquefaction. In this essay I will be discussing the factors that affect earthquakes, whether human such as population density, urbanisation and earthquake mitigation or physical such as liquefaction, magnitude, landslides and proximity to the focus.

     Although it is certain that violent Earth tremors in themselves are destructive, there are often other kinds of Earth movements that are triggered by earthquake shock waves. Thus, the violent shaking that accompanies many earthquakes often causes rockslides, snow avalanches, and landslides. In some areas these events are frequently more devastating than the Earth tremor itself.

Volcanoes and Earthquakes are two of the most intriguing natural disasters that can occur on earth. Unlike hurricanes and tornadoes, they can awaken at almost any point in time throughout the year. These two natural disasters are also different from others because they occur on the layers of the earth itself. Volcanoes, while large to us, are actually small, conical patches of earth that spurt and ooze hot molten lava from the core, and can destroy areas of land triple their size. Earthquakes, on the other hand, are severe jolts felt on land due to the movement of earths tectonic plates. Some may describe earthquakes as being similar to riding a bike down a flight of stairs. The impact of an earthquakes can take down even the largest buildings and strongest structures. All natural disasters can have damaging effects on land, some more than others, and all can be measured or predicted in different ways. Although earthquakes and volcanoes are similar to each other, the two are still very comparable. A few of these similarities and differences include the cause of their occurrence, and how their occurrence impacts the environment.