In this exercise you will consider the leading earthquake hazard in the Midwest - the New Madrid seismic zone. Read Chapter 4 (especially p. 90 - 92) and remember what you learned from the video on the Northridge earthquake and aftermath. You will gain more information on past history and current predictions by visiting the following World Wide Web sites:

Mercalli Earthquake Intensity: http://www.eas.slu.edu/Earthquake_Center/mercalli.html (as a reminder) St. Louis University Earthquake Center: http://www.eas.slu.edu/Earthquake_Center/

last 20 years or so, New Madrid Earthquakes 1974-1997: http://www.eas.slu.edu/Earthquake_Center/NM/Images/seismap.html

The Virtual Times New Madrid page: http://www.hsv.com/genlintr/newmadrd

U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet: The Mississippi Valley-"Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" http://quake.wr.usgs.gov/QUAKES/FactSheets/NewMadrid/

account of damage: http://wwwneic.cr.usgs.gov/neis/eqlists/USA/1811-1812.html

pictures of damage: http://wwwneic.cr.usgs.gov/neis/eqlists/USA/1811-1812_pics.html

Seismic data from the Center for Earthquake Research and Information "http://samwise.ceri.memphis.edu/

Report of Missouri Seismic Safety Commission: http://www.eas.slu.edu/MSSC/indexnet.html

Missouri Seismic Safety Commission: Executive summary http://www.eas.slu.edu/MSSC/executiv.html

(I will include recommendations on sites for each question). A copy of this homework will also be on the world wide web with all links activated - go to http://www.udayton.edu/~geology/faculty/koziol/208.html and look for the link to this homework.

Answer the following questions on a separate piece of paper. Please use a word processor, typewrite, or very neat handwriting. There is much information available on the web sites above and you could easily spend lots of time on this assignment, but several hours is fine. You could also spend 10 minutes on this assignment, but I will detect that. If you wish to print out some of the pages and turn them in with your assignment, by all means do so. Do your own work, write in your own words. Identical papers will both receive no credit.

1. What is the history of earthquake events in this area? What do some of the eyewitness accounts describe? (USGS fact sheet, Virtual Times, or account of damage is a good place to start)

2. Look at the record of the past 20 years or so of seismicity at http://www.eas.slu.edu//Earthquake_Center/NM/Images/seismap.html. (Keep in mind that many of these earthquakes are small, unfelt by humans, but detected by seismometers.) What is the pattern here? Could there be a geological structure involved? (See p. 91 in your book).

3. What do geologists predict for the future? Earthquakes have different magnitudes - do major earthquakes of magnitude 7.0 have the same probability of happening as a damaging earthquakes of magnitude 6.0? (See USGS fact sheet

4. According the mercalli Intensity map on the front page of the Virtual Times, what kind of damage could we expect in Dayton, OH? In Memphis, TN?

5. What possible life lost, damage to buildings, or effects on business are forecast? (USGS fact sheet)

6. What has the Missouri Seismic Safety Commission proposed, in general? (See their index page, read the executive summary if you wish - don't read this whole thing!)

7. Imagine that you are a local politician or private business person in St. Louis or Memphis. Considering what US government and other agencies have said about risk and possible damage, but also keeping in mind the cost involved: Would quake-proofing, retro-fitting and other mitigation initiatives be a good use of public or private money? What about education of the public? Why or why not?

GEO 208 syllabus koziol@notes.udayton.edu

Dr. Koziol's homepage

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