Each February, several States in the Central U.S., including Arkansas, Missouri, and Tennessee, regularly observe “Earthquake Awareness Month”. For more than 20 years, Earthquake Awareness Month has provided an opportunity to increase public knowledge of earthquake hazards and earthquake preparedness measures. Activities during the month typically include earthquake themed exhibits, public service announcements, specialized training, public workshops and presentations, social media outreach, and more.
Also, CUSEC recently partnered with the Missouri State Emergency Management Agency and Bootheel Youth Museum in Malden, Missouri to produce a short video on earthquake preparedness for K-3 students. The video is based on an adaptation of the children’s classic story “The Three Little Pigs” and was created by the Museum as a way to teach children about the possibility of earthquakes in the New Madrid Seismic Zone and ways to prepare for those earthquakes. The skit was filmed in mid-2013 and is intended to be used as a teaching tool during the Great Central U.S. ShakeOut and Earthquake Awareness Month. To watch the video, go to http://youtu.be/SEsfVr-7Ia8Threat of Earthquakes in the Central U.S. Remains
January 2014 – According to a recent study published in “Science” by U.S. Geological Survey seismologists Morgan Page and Susan Hough, the threat of New Madrid Seismic Zone earthquakes remain unchanged. Their study looked at whether current seismic activity in the region could be aftershocks from the 1811-12 New Madrid earthquake sequence or a result of current tectonic activity, a theory which has been debated by scientists and seismologists for the past several years.
In their study, Page and Hough conclude that current earthquakes are not aftershocks from the 1811-12 earthquakes, but from build-up of stress caused by ongoing tectonic processes. The computer modeling the scientists used to test the “aftershock hypothesis” has confirmed what other scientists and seismologists have long held consensus on — the New Madrid Seismic Zone is not dead.
For more on this study, see the official USGS media release at http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=3791#.UufN0Pvna70
