[Rockhounds] New Madrid fault

[Axel Emmermann]

> I am thinking
> statistics here - what are the odds of this happening in this millennium
> (much less this century)?
> 
> Alan G.

[Axel] There's an unusual way to find out whether a fault is short-term
dangerous or not... If it is, there is probably a name for it in the tales
and myths of the local people. Think about Pompei... in 79 AD  it was
destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.  We know of that because of the
ruins and letters of Plinius the younger.  But what if we hadn't had written
testimony? We know that Krakatau is a cataclysmic and recurring volcanic
explosion. There have been movies made about it, documentaries, books...
still millions of people have chosen to live in the "death zone" after a few
years. Were it to blow up now there would be millions of casualties.

Still, chances of surviving a large earthquake are better than those of
surviving a large volcanic eruption... No lahars, pyroclastic flows, lava,
pressure waves, climate changes, ash rains...

If I were looking for an answer about the dangers of a seismic zone, I would
go looking in the mythology of the locals and first of all: the place names
in the local language If I'm not mistaking that would be in Sioux.   
Names like: land that dances; land that moves, land that glows (quake
lights), shaking land, sand fountain ... Things like that. 
Reelfoot lake is a good example...
http://visitreelfootlake.com/reelfootlegend.htm
If cataclysmic earthquakes happen with intervals that span periods greater
than collective memory they will not reflect on the place names. If they
happen more regularly you 'll most likely find place names referring to it.
Writings can such legends alive for much longer than a few hundred years...
Think of Sodom and Gomorra. Those became myth centuries before the written
word became a general tool for recording history. Still, we know of them and
archaeology seems to confirm their existence in the distant past.

Axel
 
 
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "J Bryan Kramer" <codeburner at gmail.com>
> To: "Rockhounds at drizzle.com: A mailing list for rock and gem collectors"
> <rockhounds at lists.drizzle.com>
> Sent: Saturday, March 21, 2009 11:53 AM
> Subject: [Rockhounds] New Madrid fault
> 
> 
> I thought some may be interested in this:
> 
> <http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090313145956.htm>
> 
> Do deep subsurface faults always produce measurable surface movement?
> 
> BK
> 
> --
> “It often seems to me that the night is much more alive and richly colored
> than the day."
> 
>                       Vincent van Gogh
> 
> J Bryan Krämer       North Florida, USA
> photos at: http://pbase.com/photoburner
> blog at: http://www.photoburner.net
> 
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