New Madrid Fault Zone

When you think of the New Madrid Fault, you probably think it is in some other country, that is separated from the united states by and ocean, but actually its a lot closer than you think. The fault zone starts in Illinois and then covers parts of Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, and Tennessee. The New Madrid Fault has been around for almost 2 centuries, but it is still producing earthquakes every year.
The biggest earthquake ever recorded on the contiguous United States in 1812, caused the New Madrid Fault zone. The earthquake and zone is called new Madrid because of a nearby city. The earthquake was an estimated 8.0, which means it would have been almost impossible to walk, and now days hard to steer a car. There would have also been a lot of damage to any buildings. That is the earthquake that caused one of the biggest fault zones in the United States.
The New Madrid Fault zone is almost two hundred years old but it is still seismically active. This fault zone has potential to produce a damaging earthquake about every three hundred to five hundred years. Since the fault zone was made, smaller, more frequent were recorded through out the area. In the nineteen seventies, machines have been installed to monitor earthquakes. Since then thousands of small earthquakes have been recorded. In a fifty year span there is a twenty-five to forty percent chance there could be an earthquake of a magnitude of 6.0 or greater. As you can see this fault zone is still seismically active, but with technology, this area is still densely populated.
The New Madrid fault zone is still a seismically active zone, but with technology there will never be a disaster like the 1812 earthquake. People in New Madrid now have their houses earthquake proofed and it is now a safe place to live. Although the New Madrid zone was caused by a major earthquake the chances of having that big of an earthquake again are very small.(jk-2)