St. Louis, Brick homes, and the New Madrid fault line (earthquake, safe)

[flynavyj]

Originally Posted by mike0421

I swear, St. Louis and the region in New Madrid almost seems PROUD to be at risk of being located near a major fault zone!

These earthquakes occurred in 1811 and 1812, and there's no real empirical evidence, save for a few local writing entries, as to the extent of the damage that was caused. Like Glamaromic says, it's probably dissipating in risk and it's not something to ponder too often. Myself, I would be much more concerned about hail damage risks and the occasional tornado.

That's what insurance is for. Luckily tornado's are fairly localized, so only small parts of the metro tend to be affected at any one time. And Hail, well, sucks, but we just get a new roof every few years, you can also buy cars at a wicked discount.

[flynavyj]

Originally Posted by Dawn10am

NOOOO! I'd like to think the city (and the county, which would be destroyed too) would rebuild in a similar urban style to what we have now, but St. Louis doesn't have a great track record on smart growth so I can't say I'm optimistic. That's assuming I survive the quake, of course. I wouldn't really care otherwise. Lol.

I'd imagine the county might fair better than the city...especially considering the limited use of Brick in the county, and that much of the brick usage isn't structural, more facade. Much of the city would be destroyed, and i'm sure there would be plenty of upheaval in the County bud most of the wood frame homes would likely survive (less there's widespread fires). So my thoughts are, we county folks can finally rebuild the city to look like a perfect little county town

[Die_Nadel]

Originally Posted by flynavyj

I'd imagine the county might fair better than the city...especially considering the limited use of Brick in the county, and that much of the brick usage isn't structural, more facade. Much of the city would be destroyed, and i'm sure there would be plenty of upheaval in the County bud most of the wood frame homes would likely survive (less there's widespread fires). So my thoughts are, we county folks can finally rebuild the city to look like a perfect little county town

Yes and all be made of ticky tacky and all look just the same....

[glamatomic]

Originally Posted by Die_Nadel

Yes and all be made of ticky tacky and all look just the same....

....^^^ Says somebody who obviously hasn't explored much of St. Louis County!

[flynavyj]

Originally Posted by glamatomic

....^^^ Says somebody who obviously hasn't explored much of St. Louis County!

Thanks for biting. Lets turn this into a City/County battle...totally jokin, just having fun!

[glamatomic]

Originally Posted by flynavyj

Thanks for biting. Lets turn this into a City/County battle...totally jokin, just having fun!

Haha sorry, definitely not my intention

[Yooshi]

There really isn't a way to predict when an earthquake will happen in the new madrid fault line. The best scientists can do is predict the likelihood of an earthquake based on past data.

[Thundercloud47]

I agree with the other posters here.

I don't live in the Lou but I'm still in the New Madrid Seismic Zone even though I live about 100 miles West of you folks.
My attitude about NM is; Don't worry, buy the extra insurance, and keep a few days worth of emergency supplies. Those supplies will come in handy in the event of a far more likely emergency like a tornado, blizzard, or whatever.

One of the most impressive earthquake survival stories I have ever read happened during the big one in the early 1800's. it was from the diary of a pioneer man. It drove home the point to me that this was not just one event, it was a series of quakes that happened over a period of time. i believe it was the third shock when he wrote " We lost our dear daughter Jenny this morning. She was killed. We got to get out of here before this ground kills all of us."

He did get out. He moved to an area where Indians had just massacred a large number of white settlers. He said that he felt much safer there because and I quote; " You can SEE Indians."

When I lived in South Missouri I did experience a few tremors. One did cause the rock foundation of our old home to sink. We later tore it down. I'ts funny what you do without thinking. I felt it hit that day when I was on the back porch. I was a kid and I did not know what it was. I jumped the porch rail and got away from the house. It seemed the right thing to do at the time. Had I been in a city I could easily been clobbered by a falling brick.

I think that with all the research going on that someday they will be able to predict with fair accuracy when an Earthquake might happen. I don't think they will get it 100% accurate but a bit of warning would be nice.

.

[100mg]

There's plenty of brick buildings in L.A. that were built between 1910-1940 that are still standing. I live in one and have experienced quite a few 3.0-6.0 quakes while home. The problem isn't whether a buildingis made of brick but whether it's been earthquake-proofed. Its mandatory in Ca but I doubt that's the case in MO.

[silibran]

As I understand it, older brick homes would tumble down during a major earthquake. I haven't heard the latest info about the New Madrid fault, but the most damage that fault can do would be south of the city.

I like the advice about getting earthquake insurance.

But you are more likely to be hit by a tornado than an earthquake, IMO.