All my day dreams are disasters..

My hometown was shook by a 5.2 magnitude earthquake early this morning. The shaking was enough to wake my parents up and cause some minor damage throughout the city. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch informs us:

A predawn earthquake rattled Southern Illinois and eastern Missouri early today, waking up neighborhoods across the area and flooding police departments with calls...

The quake was the result of the moving apart of two tectonic plates along the New Madrid fault, well-known to St. Louis area residents. But instead of being along the main fault line, primarily along the Mississippi River, it originated from a spur known as the Wabash Valley Seismic Zone. The epicenter was in Bellmont, 127 miles east of St. Louis.

The New Madrid Fault is a weak spot in the center of the country caused by the stretching millions of years ago of the earth's surface, the North American Plate, along the fault lines in California and on the mid-Atlantic ridge, Kusky said.

"A 5.2 earthquake is pretty high for here but not very high for around the world," Kusky said. "It takes a little bit more to cause major damage."

Today's earthquake came on the anniversary of the 1906 earthquake that reached 7.8 magnitude and destroyed much of San Francisco.

I imagine most people have no knowledge of the seismic history in and around Missouri. If you're from Missouri though you always carry a little worry in the back of your mind that a large devastating earth quake will hit one day. The New Madrid fault line runs through the state and is the source of all of much of the past seismic activity. Wikipedia tells us:

The New Madrid Seismic Zone, also known as the Reelfoot Rift or the New Madrid Fault Line, is a major seismic zone in the Southern and Midwestern United States stretching to the southwest from New Madrid, Missouri.

The New Madrid fault system was responsible for the 1812 New Madrid Earthquake and has the potential to produce damaging earthquakes on an average of every 300 to 500 years. Since 1812 frequent smaller intraplate earthquakes (earthquakes within a tectonic plate) were recorded for the area.^[1]

The seismic zone covers parts of five U.S. states: Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky and Tennessee.

So this isn't an insignificant seismic zone and it has a volatile history. More from Wikipedia,

The zone had four of the largest North American earthquakes in recorded history, with magnitudes estimated to be greater than 7.0 on the Richter scale, all occurring within a 3 month period between 1811 and 1812.

The February 7th 1812 quake caused the Mississippi River changed course and began to run backwards. It is estimated that the quake was a magnitude 8.0 on the richter scale.

That history had mostly receded until Dr. Iben Browning came to our attention and predicted a 50% probability of a major earthquake along the New Madrid fault line in December 1990. Browning had a history of being accurate with other seismological events so while he was viewed as a bit of a crank his prediction was also a bit frightening. Brownings prediction did not come true but the new attention on the New Madrid fault has left a lasting impression on everyone who lives near the fault line.

Out of the Dr. Browning prediction though we did get a great piece of alt-country music, Uncle Tupelo's "New Madrid". The song is one of despair and love lost and makes reference to the Mississippi Rivers temporary change of course in 1812 and Dr. Browning's prediction.

Enjoy