I am from Memphis, and remember the big scare back in the 80s?.
The big seismologist predictor, forgot his name, predicted a massive quake on the New Madrid fault.
I remember my mother tying a rope around the water heater in the attic, and securing other fragile things.
Of course, I know the history and creation of Realfoot lake,
when the Mississippi flowed north, as a result of the New Madrid quake.
It recently saw something in a news story that suggested
that the New Madrid fault is , for better terms, dissolving, melting away, or healing itself, and may soon not even be listed as a real fault.
They also call it the Reelfoot fault.
Alex, No way. This sucker's been around since the Cambrian Era of geologic history.
Some interesting papers on the new madrid fault.
http://quake.ualr.edu/public/nmfz.htm
http://www.showme.net/~fkeller/quake/lib/enigma.htm
Last paper also cites prehistoric quakes from 1400 AD, 900AD and 500AD or so.