New Madrid and St. Louis

[maseyjean]

Originally Posted by kshe95girl

^I lived in the area for 1/2 my life, I still have a house and farm south of STL that I live in part-time.
I live in Florida now, where hurricane warnings in the summer are a way of life, and can do more damage than an earthquake.
Its gonna be something no matter where you live, unless you live in a bubble.
Who wants to live in fear?

AGREED!

[aragx6]

Originally Posted by aragx6

I know they're starting to retrofit the Poplar St Bridge right now as well -- post-Katrina, Memphis and St. Louis are two places the Army Corps of Engineers is concerned about.

I meant FEMA in particular is concerned about the natural disaster potential in St. Louis. Just wanted to correct myself!

[STLCardsBlues1989]

Originally Posted by peanut33

I've been looking into moving to St. Louis given the proximity to family. However, after reading about earthquakes I've pretty much ruled it out. The whole city being destroyed...that just seems like a big cloud to be hanging over my head. I don't see how people can just go on without any worries when that is a possibility....
Are some of the newer areas outside of St. Louis built to withstand something like this better? It seems like in CA they at least build for something like this, whereas cities in the Midwest seem completely unprepared.

The earthquake could happen tomorrow or it could have never. If you live your life in fear then it won't be much of a life. Much of this country has fault lines under it, including places you wouldn't expect, like New York.

If you want to live a place with no chance ever of there being a natural disaster then you're out of luck. There is no such place.

There could be an earthquake tomorrow and we could all be destroyed. At the same time, people get killed in car accidents and by heart attacks every day.

Try not to let natural disasters keep from living in a place if you really want to live there.

[kshe95girl]

Originally Posted by STLCardsBlues1989

The earthquake could happen tomorrow or it could have never. If you live your life in fear then it won't be much of a life. Much of this country has fault lines under it, including places you wouldn't expect, like New York.

If you want to live a place with no chance ever of there being a natural disaster then you're out of luck. There is no such place.

There could be an earthquake tomorrow and we could all be destroyed. At the same time, people get killed in car accidents and by heart attacks every day.

Try not to let natural disasters keep from living in a place if you really want to live there.

+10000000000!!!!!!
Gotta live ones life without fear!

[ShadowCaver]

Originally Posted by kshe95girl

+10000000000!!!!!!
Gotta live ones life without fear!

Be aware, so that you don't live with fear; being prepared and knowledgeable about all the potential risks, plan for the absolute worst, while not letting them control, that is important. Don't want to live with head in the sand, ignoring situations - be proactive, find out what need to make it better, take action, and enjoy,, and then truly live.

As to this small third rock, it is very dynamic - constantly changing, and there will be another 'quake,,, just as there will be another ice storm, another tornado, another +110' heat index day, another mosquito (or tick, or spider, or Mississippi gater) bite... just matter of knowing the risks, understanding all the worst case scenarios, and taking appropriate actions. Life is too short to live in fear or despair; life should be enjoyed.

And,,, with that all said, deepest condolences to the peoples of Japan. I so hope that all others can learn from this experience, make necessary improvements.

[Missourian11]

Originally Posted by ShadowCaver

Be aware, so that you don't live with fear; being prepared and knowledgeable about all the potential risks, plan for the absolute worst, while not letting them control, that is important. Don't want to live with head in the sand, ignoring situations - be proactive, find out what need to make it better, take action, and enjoy,, and then truly live.

As to this small third rock, it is very dynamic - constantly changing, and there will be another 'quake,,, just as there will be another ice storm, another tornado, another +110' heat index day, another mosquito (or tick, or spider, or Mississippi gater) bite... just matter of knowing the risks, understanding all the worst case scenarios, and taking appropriate actions. Life is too short to live in fear or despair; life should be enjoyed.

And,,, with that all said, deepest condolences to the peoples of Japan. I so hope that all others can learn from this experience, make necessary improvements.

I totally agree with the comment above.

You should live your life to the fullest every day like it's your last; it's not worth it being obessed or overwhelmed with fear.

Big New Madrid Earthquake probably will not happen in our lifetime. Throughout my entire life in Missouri, I have felt only one minor earthquake while visiting Caruthersville, MO few years ago.

Guess what? I will be moving to Twin Cities in Minnesota this summer so that means I will have to live with blizzards and more tornadoes. I'm not afraid at all. LOL

[CitySTLbroker]

Are some of the newer areas outside of St. Louis built to withstand something like this better? It seems like in CA they at least build for something like this, whereas cities in the Midwest seem completely unprepared.

Most people here are talking about St Louis City.

From my days in the insurance business, the risk, just by virtue of the geographic area decreases in St Louis County and even more in St Charles.

If you're afraid of an earthquake, buy a frame house in St Peters

[Chelito23]

It is important to look at this question and to answer it with perspective. If there was to be a large earthquake (+7) on the New Madrid or Wabash Valley Fault System....it would shake the ground strongly in St. Louis. But at the same time, remember Haiti. Those buildings were made out of brick, mortar and cement blocks with minimal rebar and metal. Ask yorself, are St. Louis' "worst" buildings as precarious at Haiti's? I think not. Most buildings here have reinforced steel and rebar per basic construction code. Sure, they are not built to earthquake standards like in California, but I think total collapses would be very isolated. Something common would be chimmneys coming down, for example. That alone is quite dangerous, but the house would still be standing. More common occurrences would be severly damaged old masonry buildings...that would eventually ned to be torn down afterwards. But apocalptic scenes like those from Haiti would not happen here under any plausible scenario.

During a large quake, shaking in St. Louis, if the same intensity of the 1811 earthquakes were to happen, would be around a 6 or 7 on the Modified Mercalli Intensity scale. That would knock things off shelves, TV screens would fall over...it would be similar to what video you saw coming out of Tokyo, shaking intensity wise at that location during the recent quake there. Remember, the level of shaking in Tokyo was between a 6 and 7...which is independent of the earthquake's magntiude which was a 9. That had to due with distance from the epicenter and the depth of the earthquake and local ground conditions.

So a major quake wouldn't be catostophic in STL. It would cause damage and disruption, but I don't think widespread freeways, buildings and parking garages collapses would be the norm. It would clearly be a disaster, but not a calamity.