I shudder to think of what happens in this region when the New Madrid fault (system) decides to let go again, esp. if the quake sequence is similar to 1811-1812. Few people realize the damaging quakes went on for months, with a really big one starting the recognized "period of quakes" on Dec. 16, 1811, another almost as big on Jan. 23, 1812, and as USGS describes it:
Several destructive shocks occurred on February 7, the last of which equaled or surpassed the magnitude of any previous event. The town of New Madrid was destroyed. At St. Louis, many houses were damaged severely and their chimneys were thrown down...
) Even that wasn't the end of it; damaging aftershocks continued for months.
Eh, typo, NOT a smiley!