After a 6.5 magnitude earthquake hit Italy on Aug. 24, Memphis residents are worried the city is unprepared for a natural disaster of that magnitude.
The city sits along the New Madrid Fault Line, which is famous for its 1811-1812 New Madrid earthquakes. Brian Blake, of the US Central Earthquake Consortium, said it is overdue approximately 70 years for a 6.0 magnitude earthquake.
Eric Daub, a faculty member at the University of Memphis Center for Earthquake Research and Information, said there have been no significant changes in the New Madrid Fault.
“Some of the changes you might see are very small,” Daub said. “None of our data is telling us anything significant. Now, there are little earthquakes we feel all the time, but there is no way of telling when the next large one will come.” Daub said residents of Memphis shouldn’t be too worried, but should still take some precaution.
“You should be prepared. Take the events that happen across the world and learn from them.” Daub said. “Know that you have earthquake supplies and [know] if you’re in an unstable building. People should worry more about being prepared than how large the next earthquake will be.”
Daub said older buildings are more vulnerable than modern buildings.
“A lot of times you’ll see a building that has a lot of open floor plans, but doesn’t have the stability to withstand an earthquake, which results in the building collapsing,” Daub said. “Certainly older buildings are subject to damage. There are a lot of old buildings that weren’t built using modern seismic engineering.”
Roy Van Arsdale, professor of geology at the U of M, also said the buildings in Memphis are unprepared for such a catastrophe.
“If we’re talking about the 1811-1812 quakes, then the next one could be as large as 7.1,” Van Arsdale said. “However, to clear things up, it depends on where the rupture occurs. The closer we are, the more damage. My biggest concern is the unreinforced buildings in downtown Memphis. They’re probably most vulnerable. The threat wasn’t known when they were built.”
According to the US Geological Survey, the fault has earthquake danger zones in parts of Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, Illinois and South Carolina.
David Woodard, junior at the U of M, said he feels Memphis isn’t prepared because when he was in primary and secondary school they rarely prepared for earthquakes.
“I don’t think any of us are that prepared. I know I’m not,” Woodard said. “None of us here have ever experienced it. We think ‘It’ll never happen to us,’ but our buildings and everyday life would be affected, if it ever happened.”
U of M freshman Ryan Cox, 18, said Memphis doesn’t seem prepared.
“My high school rarely did earthquake drills, so all I know is to get under a table when it starts shaking, but even with that I’m scared,” Cox said. “We’re just terribly prepared. It makes me feel unsettled because I’ve never had to deal with that.”
New Orleans native and current Memphis resident, Tai Bierria, 20, said she feels Memphis is unprepared in the same way New Orleans wasn’t prepared for its natural disaster in 2005. “Memphis reminds me of New Orleans,” Bierria said. “New Orleans wasn’t prepared for Katrina, so I’m pretty sure Memphis wouldn’t be ready for an earthquake. Just knowing we’re unprepared makes me scared. A 6.5 alone is huge, but to know a professor said we could be expecting one even larger is mortifying.”
Van Arsdale said that if the community did not have a response team ready – in terms of hospitals, police, and firefighters – then, that’s when it would be in trouble.
“There have been a lot of emergency service and response preparations, which is a major part of a disaster,” Van Arsdale said. “To my knowledge our officials have done a wonderful job of preparing us.”
