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One of the buzzwords around the state ARPSC is New Madrid and NM11.
Lets dig into a little deeper both of these topics.
New Madrid is the tectonic fault to our south that has been dormant for quite some time. it has also spawned the largest earthquake in the United States registering over 6.8 on the Richter Scale. (some reports have the series of quakes registering as high as an 8) These quakes happened in 1811 and 1812. This year marks the 200th anniversary of these quakes.
NM11 is the National Level Exercise (NLE) based on a new occurrence of an earthquake on this fault complex.
In doing my research for training materials, I have seen two sides of the NM fault, and of the geologists that are studying it. One side says the fault has dont nothing in quite some time, and everything since 1812 has become smaller and smaller on the Richter Scale. They are thinking the plates have fixed, and no further seismic activity will come from this fault. The other side says the NM fault is overdue for a event of some kind. A good portion of them are saying that it could be a quake that is at least as strong as the 1811-1812 series of quakes.
The New Madrid Fault System extends 120 Miles southward from the area of Charleston, Missouri, and Cairo, Illinois, through New Madrid and Caruthersville, following Interstate 55 to Blytheville and on down to Marked Tree, Arkansas. It crosses five state lines and cuts across the Mississippi River in three places and the Ohio River in two places. The Fault is Active, averaging more than 200 measured events per year (1.0 or more on the Richter scale), about 20 per month. Tremors large enough to be felt (2.5-3.0 on the Richter scale) are noted annually. Every 18 months the fault releases a shock of 4.0 or more, capable of local minor damage. Magnitudes of 5.0 or greater occur about once per decade, can do significant damage and be felt in several states.
Here is one of the source links for information on the New Madrid Seismic Zone http://cusec.org/earthquake-information/new-madrid-seismic-zone.html
The NM11 exercise will take place May 16-20 with all states in CUSEC (Central United States Earthquake Consortium) participating to some degree. Michigan has chosen to not participate with a full scale exercise of its own, however there will be several interesting activities on the Wednesday of this week. More details to follow as they develop.
I will be writing more articles on this topic, to let you know what kind of effects we will see here in Metro Detroit, as well as get you prepared for activation if we ever do see a quake in the NMSZ. |
