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Article: Rumblings coast to coast. (earthquake risk in the Midwest) (Special Report)
- Article from:
- U.S. News & World Report
- Article date:
- January 31, 1994
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1994 All rights reserved. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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When the `Big One' finally comes, it may well hit someplace other than California. While that state has more earthquake activity, much of the Midwest is at risk for large--and potentially more dangerous--earthquakes
Three of the nation's largest earthquakes ever have occurred not on the West Coast but in the center of the country. In December of 1811 and January and February of 1812, an area near the town of New Madrid in southeastern Missouri was rocked with successive earthquakes estimated to range from 8.4 to 8.8 on the Richter scale--that is, nearly 100 times as mighty as the quake that hit Los Angeles last week. The Mississippi River flowed backward and ...