Welcome
from the Director
Welcome to our newly
redesigned website. Our new site covers everything from
basic earthquake safety and mitigation issues, to a calendar of events
and the science behind this region's seismicity. We want to have
a site that is informative and easy to navigate and welcome
any comments that you might have. We are always looking for ways to
improve our site and we welcome your feedback. Thanks for visiting...
Launched in 2006, the mission of the New Madrid Seismic Zone Catastrophic Planning Project is to increase national readiness for a catastrophic earthquake in the New Madrid Seismic Zone (NMSZ). This multi-year, multi-agency initiative is the largest planning effort ever undertaken in United States History. Specifically, national readiness will be increased by developing a series of annexes or supplements to existing base plans for response and recovery to a series of major earthquakes in the NMSZ and integrating them into a single document with federal, regional, tribal, state, and local components. Additionally, the mission is to identify any issues that can not be resolved based on current capabilities and to propose recommended courses of action for decision makers involved in this project. The project is expected to culminate in 2011 with a series of major command exercises, coinciding with the 200th Anniversary of the 1811-1812 earthquakes.
Arkansas set to Install Seismic Monitoring Stations
December 2008 - Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe has authorized the State to purchase six broadband seismic monitors that will detect and locate
earthquake activity throughout Arkansas. The Arkansas Geological Survey will place the monitors throughout the
state to improve measuring capabilities in areas between existing
stations around the New Madrid Seismic Zone in Northeast Arkansas and
those in Oklahoma. "Although Arkansans may not think about earthquakes often, our
proximity to the New Madrid zone makes them a realistic concern for our
State," Governor Beebe said. "Our emergency responders already train
and prepare for earthquakes. These seismic monitors will give us better
information about the small tremors we experience now and help us
prepare for stronger earthquakes that could impact Arkansas in the
future." The earthquake data collected by the new monitors will be shared with
researchers and the public on a regular basis. The Geological Survey
will also post updated maps of recent seismic activity online. Adapted from the Official News Release
Special Session at SSA on Mt. Carmel Earthquake
December
2008 - There will be a special session at the April 2009 Seismological
Society of America Meeting entitled "M5.2 Mt. Carmel, Illinois,
Earthquake, 18 April 2008". The 18 April 2008 M5.2 Mt. Carmel
earthquake is the most densely recorded moderate-sized earthquake to
date in the Eastern U.S. It is also the largest earthquake to strike
the central U.S. in 40 years. The main event and 35 aftershocks were
widely recorded by ANSS seismographs across the central U.S. offering
an opportunity to study earthquake ground motions having a variety of
site conditions including the thick soils of the Mississippi Embayment.
Based on USGS Did You Feel It reports the earthquake was widely felt up
to 500 km from the epicenter including the cities of Chicago, IL,
Indianapolis, IN, Lexington, KY, Atlanta, GA, Memphis, TN, and St.
Louis, MO. This session seeks contributions on source rupture models,
geodetic observations, fault plane characterization from aftershocks,
site response and basin effects, attenuation, and shaking effects to
the built environment and free-field related to this earthquake.
Information about the meeting and abstract submission can be found at the SSA Website: http://www.seismosoc.org/meetings/2009/specialsessions.php
New Report on Impact of Earthquakes in the
Central United States
November 2008 - The Mid-America Earthquake (MAE) Center at the University of
Illinois announces the release of its report entitled ‘Impact of Earthquakes on
the Central USA’. The report is the one of the products of the largest
earthquake consequence assessment project in United States history, the New Madrid Seismic Zone
Catastrophic Planning Project. The report contains earthquake impact
assessments for the eight CUSEC Member States, and lists damage and
other consequences to the built environment as well as social and economic
impacts. The earthquake scenarios used represent the New Madrid, the
Wabash Valley, and East Tennessee seismic zones. The analysis employs new
and more reliable hazard and inventory data that has not been used before.
In an effort to provide better information to our visitors, please use the links below to find out more about recent earthquake related information in the news. As websites update their links, some of these URL's may not be available. If you find one of our links is broken, please let us know, and we will remove it. This page will be updated often and the links will be listed in order of most recent first. Enjoy!
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