4.4 Quake E. Tenn. Felt 200 Mi. Away

[Andie]

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/earthquake-today-magnitude-44-tennessee-georgia/

 

Decatur, Tennessee experienced a 4.4 quake, 9km deep on Dec. 12th

It was followed up by 3.0 aftershock at 5 km deep

Four days earlier, on the 8th, a prequake of 2.7 and 22 km deep struck NE in Sweetwater, Tenn.

 

Why is this important? Well, it may be signaling an awakening of the New Madrid Fault which has been very quiet for about 15 yrs in my memory.

The New Madrid experienced a major quake in 1811. The estimated strength was 7.9

Most seismologists say if this struck today many buildings could collapse as they are brick and mortar and not EQ Construction. If this occurs, the death and injury toll could be quite significant.

 

The geology in the New Madrid zone allows for the quakes to be felt farther afield, whereas the granite in the west limits the shake. All we can do is watch and wait. Hopefully emergency managers are working to prepare the public.

 

From Wikipedia-

 

There are estimates that these stable continental region earthquakes were felt strongly over roughly 130,000 square kilometers (50,000 sq mi), and moderately across nearly 3 million square kilometers (1 million square miles). The 1906 San Francisco earthquake, by comparison, was felt moderately over roughly 16,000 km2 (6,200 sq mi).

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1811–12_New_Madrid_earthquakes