Threat Still Looms for New Madrid Seismic Zone

Threat Still Looms for New Madrid Seismic Zone,

USGS Says

In a study published in late January of 2014 in both Science Mag and through the USGS Newsroom, two USGS Seismologists Morgan Page and Susan Hough argue that the recent activity in the New Madrid Seismic Zone is not aftershocks but in fact new earthquakes building new pressure. This isn't a new threat though, the USGS publicly released an article on the New Madrid Seismic Zone still being a concern way back in 2009- 5 years ago. That threat has not gone away.

Rolling Under New Madrid

"During 1811–1812, the New Madrid Seismic Zone experienced a sequence of three large intraplate earthquakes and at least one comparably sized aftershock. There have been no earthquakes of similar magnitudes since then. Using a combination of historical data dating back to the original large events and an epidemic-type aftershock sequence model, Page and Hough (p. 762, published online 23 January) found that the current low seismicity is not part of an aftershock sequence. Instead, despite low observable deformation rates, there is ongoing accumulation of strain, leaving the potential for large earthquakes in the region." -Editor's Summary of The New Madrid Seismic Zone: Not Dead Yet

USGS

USGS

"Roadways in the Mississippi Valley of Arkansas and Missouri (such as Interstate 55) could become impassable because of bridge failures and fissuring of road surfaces. Venting of large quantities of water, sand, and mud as a result of liquefaction could flood fields and roads and disrupt agriculture for weeks to months. Flooding of farmland, where agricultural chemicals are stored onsite, could contaminate rivers and streams. Failure of levees, especially during high water, would contribute to flooding, and failures of riverbanks could make the Mississippi River and its tributaries difficult to navigate for many weeks. The City of Memphis and the surrounding metropolitan area of more than one million people would be severely impacted. Memphis has an aging infrastructure, and many of its large buildings, including unreinforced schools and fire and police stations, would be particularly vulnerable when subjected to severe ground shaking. Relatively few buildings were built using building codes that have provisions for seismic-resistant design. Soil liquefaction and related ground failures are likely to occur in downtown Memphis along the Mississippi River and along the Wolf River that passes through Memphis. The older highways and railroad bridges that cross the Mississippi River, as well as older overpasses, would likely be damaged or collapse in the event of a major New Madrid earthquake. Some of the bridges and pipelines crossing the Wolf River might be damaged or destroyed. Although Memphis is likely to be the focus of major damage in the region, St. Louis, Mo., Little Rock, Ark., and many small and medium-sized cities would also sustain damage." -USGS

 

"I don't agree that this area is dying out," said Morgan Page, lead study author and a geophysicist with the USGS in Pasadena, Calif. "It's not going to go off anytime soon, but we do have evidence that more stress is being built up now. Eventually, that energy will have to be released in a large earthquake." -Thanks to Active New Madrid Fault Zone, Midwest Earthquake Risk Still Looms - "Even though we can't predict earthquakes, we can predict the rates of aftershocks over time," Page explained. "The frequency of aftershocks — smaller quakes that follow the big earthquake — decreases with time, known in seismology as Omori's Law. And in the New Madrid Seismic Zone, the aftershocks aren't following Omori's Law."

xoxo disaster girl

P.F.S. Links for the Curious

Threat of Earthquakes Occurring in Central United States Still Alive
New Madrid Seismic Zone Wiki
Missouri DNR Facts about New Madrid
USGS New Madrid

Alaska hit by 7.0 Earthquake, Volcanic Eruption in 24 Hours

ALASKA HIT BY 7.0 EARTHQUAKE,

VOLCANIC ERUPTION IN 24 HOURS

On Friday August 30th, 2013 Alaska was hit by both a large earthquake, and a large volcanic eruption. The eruption of the Veniaminof volcano on the Alaskan Peninsula sent ash more than three miles into the sky, while the 7.0 quake struck off shore Alaska, specifically near Adak Island. Although both the volcanic eruption and earthquake were tied to the same tectonic plate, at this time there is no direct link between the two. No FAA advisories or tsunami warnings were issued in either event, also no injuries or reports of damage have been reported thus far. Veniaminof volcano remains on ORANGE alert at the AVO (Alaska Volcano Observatory).

 

Via USGS

 USGS 7.0 ADAK, ALASKA REPORT
AVO VENIAMINOF ERUPTION REPORT 

Local Area Quake Plot

 

 

Veniaminof 24 HR Webicorder Feed

 
Hopefully she's done clearing her throat. 

xoxo disaster girl

Wisconsin Strange Occurrences Video Interviews

Hey guys - I've compiled a bunch of the video interviews from the Watertown, Clintonville, Montello, and Baraboo incidents. Still following the story and will provide an update when new information is available.


Clintonville Boom Recorder Interview

Baraboo Boom Interviews

Clintonville Town Meeting

Clintonville Boom Interviews

Clintonville Boom Interviews

Watertown tile Interviews

Montello Booms Interviews


If you guys find any more feel free to comment the links :)
I'll add more if I find them.

xoxo disaster girl

The Wisconsin Booms - 4/4/2012 UPDATED

I have been continuing to follow the Clintonville booms, and although not much has surfaced in the last couple of days I have found a couple things I felt were worth sharing. Information released on 4/2/2012 states that Clintonville seismometers registered a tiny quake of 0.1 magnitude on 3/29/2012, you can view that information here.

A couple days ago I found an article that stated that in Watertown, WI something had moved underneath the ground in a school cracking tiles and closing the school for two days. A video covering that is below, and the article and additional video can be viewed here.

4/3/2012 UPDATE: I called the Clintonville police department this morning and spoke with one of their officers. I asked if the booming noises and earthquakes were continuing and the officer said they are still occurring sporadically and they were still getting reports in nightly.

4/4/2012 UPDATE: Apparently there is a new town to add to the Wisconsin booming incidents, Baraboo, WI- or more accurately nicknamed "Baraboom". The incident is slightly different than the Clintonville and Montello booms, as these incidences seem to be preceded by bright flashes of light. A National Weather Service meteorologist confirmed today that the cause of the light was not storm related, and there were no storms in the area that could have produced lightning. The cause as of yet remains another mystery to add to the list. I have included it to the strange occurrences in Wisconsin map I have below, ironically enough I have not (as of yet) had to make a new map as they're all in this neat little square on a map. The original Baraboo news story can be viewed here.

Another interesting point, brought to you by Alex Jones of Infowars, is that during the April 7th, 2011 magnitude 7.4 quake that hit Japan there was a bright light that appeared in the sky. I have yet to find a formal explanation of that light either. The source for that information can be viewed here. I have also added a video captured of the Japanese earthquake light below the first video. The mystery continues to deepen....

Additional thing to note is that the US Government canceled the early warning satellite system for earthquakes and volcanoes in late March of last year. A couple weeks after the devastating 8.9 earthquake that struck Japan. Why would they do this? The only thing I can think of is that they were monitoring earthquakes/volcanoes worldwide and they picked up nothing before the Japanese quake. If that's true I can understand why they would cancel the program, other than that I can not honestly see why they would do such a thing. Information about this programs cancellation can be viewed here.

Although this story is "unrelated" these towns (Clintonville, Montello, Watertown, Baraboo) are all in proximity of each other. I created a map of WI that highlights the 4 towns (red dots), and one peculiar thing about Clintonville and Watertown. They practically sit on the same latitude.

Strange Occurrences in Wisconsin

Here is a map from USGS on the New Madrid seismic zone, of which the area in Wisconsin sits on.

This doesn't necessarily mean that the earthquakes, booming, or tile raising events have anything to do with one another or are related to the New Madrid seismic zone but I feel it is necessary to point out the fact that this is the case in point.

I will continue to update the information on these occurrences until they have either ceased or a "formal" and "adequate" explanation is found.

xoxo disaster girl

Continuing Coverage - Strange Sounds - Clintonville Booms Mystery Deepens

A new sound to add to the Strange Sound Phenomenon has been plaguing two Wisconsin towns, a mysterious booming noise captured in the above video by audio engineer Brian Sullivan, original story can be viewed here. The reports I have been reading about the booms have been saying that the USGS had confirmed a 1.5 earthquake and likened the cause to be a minor earthquake swarm. The USGS earthquake report can be viewed here Clintonville 1.5 3/20/2012.

Another interesting fact is that earthquakes are virtually unheard of in Wisconsin, in fact I can only find one earthquake listed as having an epicenter in the state- and it outright says it was not recorded. Here is the USGS list of earthquakes in Wisconsin and here is the USGS Wisconsin earthquake history. The 1947 Wisconsin earthquake was not recorded by seismographs because it was so 'sharp' it actually broke the equipment. RARE FIND: The original 05/07/1947 Newspaper Article.

The town of Clintonville rented seismic equipment in the hopes that they will be able to locate the origin of the loud booms, and possibly find an micro quake epicenter. So far no further information on the seismic recordings has been released. They had already 'found' their answer, courtesy of the USGS.

But the noises returned, and no further 'earthquakes' were been reported. It has many people wondering what exactly is the cause of these loud booms, and whether or not the 'answers' they were given were correct at all.

The reports continue to stream in with one of the most recent being from last night 3/29/2012, that report can be viewed here. One of the most interesting reports comes straight from the USGS which states that the Clintonville booming this week, was being monitored by seismic equipment, but it picked up nothing. USGS No Seismic Activity on Tuesday Report So what can it be? Prison planet provided us with some other possibilities (see below), regardless I will continue to cover this story until an 'answer' is found.

"If the booms are being artificially created by man-made activity, the culprits are unlikely to own up to it. There are numerous potential scenarios besides seismic activity that could be responsible for the booms, including CO2 sequestration storage, which has been documented to cause “small to moderate earthquakes,” according to Stanford geophysicist Mark Zoback.

Other speculation has centered around secret underground military tunneling work, improper disposal of wastewater from a natural gas fracking operation (also documented to cause earthquakes), or more exotic explanations such as the High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP), which is often blamed for unexplained weather and seismic events due to its highly secretive nature." - Alex Jones - Prision Planet

xoxo disaster girl