The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has released a new study that predicts that should a magnitude 7.7 earthquake erupt along the New Madrid seismic zone, six states will suffer extensive casualties and damage to homes, hospitals, roads and utilities. 

The study, conducted by the Mid-America Earthquake Center at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, estimated that if a large quake on the central segment of the fault in Missouri were to hit, that state could see 760 fatalities and $37 billion in total economic loss; if a strong quake were to be centered in Illinois, that state could see 276 fatalities and a $31 billion economic loss; and if a strong quake were to occur along the segment of the fault in Tennessee, that state could experience 2,904 fatalities and a total economic loss of $56 billion.  The study is part of a FEMA initiative to develop catastrophic earthquake disaster plans in eight Midwestern states.

FEMA Paints Dire Picture for Area If Big Quake Hits (St. Louis Post-Dispatch 11/24/08)

December 9, 2008