Free Republic

After California quakes, attention turns to New Madrid zoneATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- Recent earthquake activity in California has prompted fresh speculation about "the big one" -- an enormous quake along California's West Coast. A few have been large enough to shake the faith of skeptics -- a magnitude 7.2 quake on June 15, followed two days later by a magnitude 6.7, both off the coast near the California-Oregon border. Doomsayers have warned about the Pacific Coast for years. But only a few have raised concerns about an area with the potential to be more dangerous than California -- the New...

PASADENA, Calif. — Shattered cave formations in the central United States may preserve one of the longest records of powerful earthquakes in this region. Historical records from European settlers provide vivid accounts of deadly earthquakes in states such as Missouri, Tennessee and Illinois. For instance, in 1811 and 1812, people saw the ground ripple like ocean waves when the New Madrid Fault Zone unleashed earthquakes thought to be greater than magnitude 8. However, no written accounts exist from before Europeans arrived. And most earthquake faults in the Midwest are hidden deep beneath the surface, so scientists can't dig into the...

When Mark Barrett moved to Guy, Arkansas, he had no idea the tiny town of less than 300 was nearly as rocking as the Southern California community he'd left behind. Six years and hundreds of seismic events later, Barrett says he's feeling it more and more. Since September, seismologists have recorded 700 temblors in the area. The largest in the current swarm, a 4.3-magnitude quake, shook the town at 2:13 a.m. Friday. The tremors appear to be rumbling through town with greater frequency. The Arkansas Geological Survey has recorded 50 quakes in and around Guy since Sunday. That includes Friday...