[madison10]

What does it being poor have to do with an earthquake hitting the area?

[Graybeard58]

Earth quakes pick on poor people, just like hurricanes do.

Don’t even get me started about tornadoes and trailer parks.

[DannyTN]

"What does it being poor have to do with an earthquake hitting the area?"

The poor lives in housing that is not as likely to stand up to an earthquake. And they can't afford to lose what little they have and will need public assistance if they do.

[Eyes Unclouded]

Something about a pact with the devil...

[LucyJo]

The "experts" say the Delta isn't as prepared to deal with an earthquake of that magnitude, because of the poverty and lack of "retrofitting".

Geologists consider the New Madrid fault line a major seismic zone and predict that an earthquake roughly the magnitude of the Haiti earthquake (7.0 on the Richter scale) could occur in the area during the next 50 years.

That forecast is of particular concern because the New Madrid zone sits beneath one of the country’s most economically distressed areas – the Delta. In many counties in the Mississippi Delta, the poverty level is triple the national average.

Moreover, the area is comparatively less prepared to deal with a huge earthquake than are other seismically active areas in the US, says Mark Ghilarducci, vice president of James Lee Witt Associates, a crisis and emergency management consulting company in Washington.

“There have not been enough resources applied for retrofitting that there could be,” Mr. Ghilarducci says. “I would like to see far more retrofit programs, strengthening of buildings, especially masonry buildings, tying down bridges. That builds resiliency in a community.”

[muawiyah]

One of the reasons folks are poor in the Central/South Mississippi Valley is the lack of development. At the same time that's a good thing.

Best to live somewhere else.