yeeks! We had an earthquake!

[Catrin]

Actually the most powerful quake in the written history of these United States was in the midwest. The Mississippi ran backwards for a bit of time

Indeed, and it also rang church bells in Boston The New Madrid fault is no slouch, and hopefully it will be a LONG time before it goes again. There were eyewitness accounts of something called "land waves" (just like it sounds) that were something over 3 feet tall due to the force of the earthquake, and there were hundreds of aftershocks over a good period of time. (I want to say they were taller than that, but my memory may be off - it's been some time since grad school).

Show of hands: if USGS could tell us "8.0 in 30 seconds" would you want to know?

Hmmmm, part of me says "yes" the other says "nope" but, in the end, what could one do with that kind of knowledge in such a brief time period other than to say a prayer?