There is a higher near-term probability of a catastrophic quake on the New Madrid fault than either the Hayward or San Andreas (the last New Madrid quake in the early 1800s was predicted to have been an 8.1 or 8.3, iirc.)
According to the news media here...this will happen soon, and we will all die a horrible death. I swear, the news people get so excited about stuff like this (i.e. ice storm 2007, highway 40/64 shut down). They make it seem like the world is coming to an end.
My favorite conversation this morning:
News Anchor: "lets take a call from someone whose house was damaged from the quake"
News Anchor: "tell me what happened"
Lady: "the house starting shaking and then I heard a big crash and I went into my family room and the picture above my fireplace had fallen down"
News Anchor: "and what were you thinking when that happened"
Lady: "that I'm going to have to get a new frame"
News Anchor: "we have another call from someone who had some damage. Tell me what happened"
Lady #2: "after it stopped I went outside to see if there was any damage and I noticed my chimney had a crack in it"
News Anchor: "so the earthquake damaged the foundation to your house"
Lady #2: "yeah, I guess. Although I haven't really looked at my chimney in a couple years so the crack might have already been there"
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