Reducing Hazards in the Central and Eastern U.S.

Research and products for loss reduction in the Central and Eastern U.S. is accomplished through partnerships among USGS and academic, government, and private partners. USGS staff are located in the Memphis, Tennessee, field office at the Center for Earthquake Research and Information (CERI), in Golden, Colorado, and in Menlo Park, California.

The map to the right shows earthquakes (circles) of the New Madrid and Wabash Valley seismic zones (orange patches). Red circles indicate earthquakes that occurred from 1974 to 2002 with magnitudes larger than 2.5 located using modern instruments (University of Memphis). Green circles denote earthquakes that occurred prior to 1974 (USGS Professional Paper 1527). Larger earthquakes are represented by larger circles.

Highlights

USGS and its Partners use seismic reflection techniques to study the long-term history of the New Madrid seismic zone.

Fact Sheet - Earthquake Hazard in the Heart of the Homeland

Fact sheet on central U.S. hazard addressing the significance of the earthquake threat, how likely large earthquakes are, and how likely damaging shaking is.

Urban Hazard Maps

Download maps of earthquake ground shaking and liquefaction potential at a scale appropriate for urban planning and development, disaster mitigation and response planning. These account for local variations in soils and their effects on shaking. Raw data and posters also available.

Virginia Seismicity Map

This map summarizes two and a third centuries of earthquake activity. The seismic history consists of letters, journals, diaries, and newspaper and scholarly articles that supplement seismograph recordings (seismograms) dating from the early twentieth century to the present. All of the pre- instrumental (historical) earthquakes were large enough to be felt by people or to cause shaking damage to buildings and their contents. Later, widespread use of seismographs meant that tremors too small or distant to be felt could be detected and accurately located.

Earthquake Event Posters

Download PDFs about recent significant earthquakes in the Central and Eastern U.S.