European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - April 7, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Some effects of it at various Points within . I new Madrid earthquakes shocks spread out a recurrence of the phenomenal new Madrid earthquakes would destroy lives a and property throughout the Central United states. The three 1811-12 quakes with hundreds of aftershocks made seismic history As they terrified the sparsely settled Frontier. Today the interlocking needs of modern society make the millions of people who live in the Region much More vulnerable. Devastation would be horrendous an widespread. Mini Arkansas Kentucky Mississippi Missouri River Tennessee principal disturbance area fear of seismic devastation �1986 National geographic society by Kenneth c. Danforth National geographic a buried Demon sleeps with its fee beneath marked tree Ark., its head beneath Cairo Iii., one clenched fist under Memphis Tenn. When sufficiently roused and it Mav happen anytime the giant will rip through the Earth to smash buildings throw highways aside breach levees and kill thousands. Geologists know All this. They speak not of if but of  far beneath the peaceful Cotton and soybean Fields the unimaginable stresses of the new Madrid seismic zone will snap. The longer they build up the worse the devastation will be. Yet communities that can expect disaster seem reluctant to prepare for it. After All the famous new Madrid fault has never been seen. It is a deep rift Valley covered by thick paleozoic Limestone plus up to 4 000 feet of Loose Sand and Clay. You can t Fly Over it and photograph it As you can the notorious san Andreas fault in California. We be attempted to have meetings says City administrator Don Lloyd of new Madrid to. We could t generate any  it s our fault claims a to shirt for Sale at the new Madrid museum. Visit new Madrid while it s still there prompts another. We be never been too concerned about it says Shirley Perry president of the new Madrid chamber of Commerce. If it happens it  it happened before three earthquakes one after the other in december 1811 and january and february 1812. Each quake alone was among the strongest in history. The Quick repetition of quakes was unusual and triply devastating. Geologists reckon they would have registered 8.6, 8.4 and 8.7 on the Richter scale. People who lived through them told of geology gone berserk. The ground moved in oceanic Waves and it turned to slush beneath their feet. Sand spewed out in great fountains and pelted Down upon them. Cracks opened so wide and deep that horses could t Cross them even after the shaking ceased. Trees splintered. The air seemed to Roar in concert with the bursting of the Earth. For a while the Mississippi River ran backward and swallowed huge hunks of terrain. Reel foot Lake in Tennessee was created All at once. The town of new Madrid Sank 12 feet and the houses fell Down. The san Francisco earthquake of 1906, so infamous that other tremors Are measured by it was 8.3 on the Richter scale. But there Are significant differences. San Francisco in 1906 was a densely populated City the entire Mississippi Valley from Natchez to St. Louis held Only 5,000 people in 1811 12. They were self sufficient frontiersmen living in log Cabins and depending on their own skill As Hunters and Small Farmers. Now More than 15 million people live in the hazardous zone. Another difference is in the Earth s crust. If earthquakes of equal magnitude hit California and the Mississippi Valley today the crustal Rock of California would limit the area of destruction. In the soft alluvial soil of the Mississippi Valley earthquakes travel much farther. Besides liquefaction of the soil in the new Madrid zone you get amplification of the seismic Waves says Arch Johnston director of the Tennessee earthquake information Center. The Waves can build up to twice their original  the new Madrid quakes caused topographical changes Over 50,000 Square Miles and Shook More than a million Square Miles. In terms of the Felt area where the earthquake is perceptible to humans the new Madrid quakes were the largest in american history. They were Felt All the Way to Canada and the . East coast says Johnston. New Madrid is not on a plate Boundary and mid plate earthquakes of the kind that struck there have yet to be explained in terms of plate tectonics. Johnston s Agency which monitors seismic activity in the Region is in Memphis. With a Large number of High buildings downtown on a Bluff Over the Mississippi Memphis is expected to suffer More than any other sizable City in the seismic zone. A recent engineering study predicts that a daytime earthquake of 7.6 Richter would kill More than 2,500 people in Memphis and cause $25 billion in property damage. The study part of the Central United states earthquake preparedness project tells what the next big quake in the new Madrid seismic zone can be expected to do to Memphis Paducah by. Carbondale Iii. Evansville ind. Poplar Bluff to. And Little Rock Ark. In chilling no emotional detail the thick report analyses everything from the survivability of blood Banks to the structural soundness of reservoirs and Railroad Bridges. Eyewitness accounts of the 1811-12 quakes concentrated on the natural Phenomena what people saw happening to the Earth and the River the subterranean Cann Nading they heard the us Lurous fumes they smelled. Accounts of Urban chaos Are missing. In contrast the drama of a modern recurrence would Center upon the disruption of society s infrastructure. Unrein forced masonry buildings would collapse. Gas Mains would break. Highways would buckle. Levees would split. Food stocks would dwindle. Hospitals those left standing would be overwhelmed. While new Madrid Waits fatalistic ally behind the levee that looms above the South end of main Street one dedicated fireman and explorer scout Leader in Blytheville Ark., 50 Miles to the South is trying to stir people to prepare for the worst. When he in t on duty at the fire station Bob Edwards spends much of his time speaking to civic clubs and other groups All up and Down the threatened areas. He has not yet been asked to speak in new Madrid people Don t want to face reality says Edwards. I be had two women Call me and ask if i was associated with the Devil because i was trying to scare people about earthquakes. People say it s the lord s will. If we re going to die we re going to die Well i m a  Edwards emphasizes practical preparation have fire extinguishers and a Good first Aid kit in the House. Know How to turn off Gas and electricity. Strap the water Heater to the Wall so it won t fall Over and spill what May be your Only source of water for Days. Keep fresh batteries in several flashlights and a portable radio which May be your Only Way to get emergency messages. Store plenty of blankets and warm clothes in the car it in t As prone to earthquake destruction As your House is. The biggest problem says Edwards is educating the Public that they re going to have to Lake care of themselves. After a catastrophic earthquake the Federal people will not be Able to get into this area from anywhere from three Days to a week. Our own emergency services will be overrun. Obviously big places like Memphis and St. Louis Are going to get Federal priority they have More people. The highways into Blytheville Are probably going to be destroyed and probably the runways at Blytheville fab. We re Only 10 Miles from the Mississippi and if the levee Breaks. The earthquake itself is not the real culprit As far As directly injuring people. It s the shattering Glass flying bricks Gas explosions live wires burning rubble hazardous materials spills the injuries brought on by panic. The casualty rate will soar it the quake hits during school hours. There is no Way Well be Able to handle All the  by Erik Eckholm new York times Many scientists Are so sure that these level will Rise visibly in the conning decades that they Are advising .planners to adopt new strategies now. A predicted Rise in sea level of one foot within the next 30 to 40 years will drive much of the Atlantic and Gulf Shoreline inward by a Hundred feet and some of it by More than a thousand feet according to Marine geologists. The environmental and economic consequences will be Felt much farther Inland. The loss of land to the seas will create havoc on our Shoreline warned Orrin h. Pilkey a Marine geologist at Duke University. Americans have been Rushing to the coast but much of our beachfront development has been contemptuous of natural  creeping Waters will destroy buildings and roads wipe out recreational beaches escalate flood problems Many Miles Inland pollute Community Wells with Saltwater and drown coastal marshes vital to fish and Birds. The Rise in sea level will become even More pronounced a Century from now scientists predict. They say the sooner planners take account of the inevitable changes avoiding investments in doomed facilities and protecting remaining wetlands from development the lower the ultimate costs will be. For the United states those studying the threat describe it As More like an expensive irritant than an impending disaster. But in densely populated lowlands of some poor nations they say the effects could be catastrophic. Hardest hit May be Bangladesh where the combined effects of rising seas and subsiding land Over the coming Century could obliterate As much As 10 percent of the crowded country inundating vast tracts of Fertile land and extending the deadly sweep of tidal Waves. In Washington a panel of experts convened by the National Academy of sciences completed a report on the Challenge of rising seas that willbe published later this year. The chairman of the Academy panel Robert g. Dean of the University of Florida said the report is intended to sensitize Shoreline communities engineers and scientists to the likelihood of a significant Rise in sea level so they can consider incorporating this into their planning. Coping with the accelerating Rise will require some difficult decisions he said. Do you try to save a Structure or not most of the world s shorelines Are already receding according to geologists who estimate that the seas worldwide have climbed an average of about 4 inches Over the last Century. This is attributed to the slow melting of mid latitude Mountain glaciers still retreating since the last ice age. But the total change in sea level around the United states during the last Hundred years has been greater about one foot because much of the United states is gradually sinking even As the Ocean rises. In coastal states the steady shrinkage of shorelines has already spawned a debate Between those who advocate a strategic Retreat from restless beaches and those More inclined to fight for valuable stretches of Shore by building sea Walls and Rock jetties and by nourishing eroding beaches with truckloads of Sand. Often the debate pits geologists whose study is the Sands of time against engineers for whom nature s infringements Are a Call to combative action. In the decades ahead the climb of the world s Waters will almost certainly Speed up according to leading scientists. Because of the impending global warming due to the greenhouse effect More of the water locked in glaciers and eventually in the great ice masses of Antarctica and Greenland will melt. Almost As important the oceans will also expand simply because they Are warmer. The greenhouse effect results from the increase in Carbon dioxide and other gases in the atmosphere As a result of Industrial activity. The gases allow sunlight to reach Earth but absorb Energy radiating outward causing the atmosphere to warm. Scientists Are nearly unanimous in predicting a global warming but Are Uncertain about its Pace. A decade ago the Specter of disaster was evoked by scientists who feared that warming oceans would cause the massive ice Sheet of Western Antarctica to disintegrate quickly boosting the seas by 15 feet and flooding major cities. Today most experts believe this is unlikely within the next Century or two and predict that changes in weather patterns will be the most troublesome result of the global warming. Even the revised estimates of oceanic Rise however spell serious problems for Many countries they maintain. Rippling impacts of a rising sea a one foot Rise in sea level can cause the Shoreline to recede by 100 feet or More. Beaches erode Imp riling nearby structures. Rising Waters destroy coastal marshes vital for fish and wildlife. Saline water May pollute Wells and far Inland the area vulnerable to tidal floods during severe storms May expand. Salinity of aquifer rises former sea level Marsh is destroyed Homes Are lost new sea level Page 14 the stars and stripes monday april 7, 1986 Beach washes away the stars and stripes Page 15