Shaky Ground
Posted: November 5th, 2009 | Author: Chris Jirau | Filed under: Science & Technology | Tags: aftershock, central United States, earthquake, Nature, New Madrid, Northwestern University, seismic activity, Seth Stein, University of Missouri-Columbia | No Comments »
A recent study conducted by researchers at Northwestern University and the University of Missouri-Columbia suggest that small earthquakes that frequently shake the central United States may actually be aftershocks from a few large quakes that occurred about 200 years ago.
The New Madrid Earthquakes between December 1811 and February 1812 are some of the strongest seismic events ever recorded in United States history. Since then, the town of New Madrid, Missouri has shaken with earthquakes, such as the 5.2 quake last year.
“There’s no motion across the fault now, so nothing’s going on, but yet there are still small earthquakes there,” said Seth Stein, the study’s lead author and a professor of geological sciences at Northwestern University. “That fault system seems to be shutting down, and if so, we may be looking at maybe thousands of years before we have [large] earthquakes on that particular fault again.”
The paper will be published in the November 5th issue of the journal Nature.
