michaelm@3comvax.UUCP (Michael McNeil) (02/14/86)
In article <1023@ncoast.UUCP> allbery@ncoast.UUCP (Brandon Allbery) writes: >One of those terrible people who feel that the people who were killed in the >Shuttle explosion actually *deserve* some memorial from We, The People, Me, too. >In mid-winter, all of us Midwesterners would *love* a taste of California... > (r-r-r-rumble) (SHA-A-KE!!!) ...but not *that* badly! The only problem with this sentiment is the fact that the Midwest was the site of the largest earthquake in U.S. history. (New Madrid, Missouri, 1811 -- the quake rang church bells as far away as Boston!) The New Madrid earthquake is estimated at *8.4* on the Richter scale. Since it has been 175 years since a major earthquake in that area relieved tectonic forces surrounding and building at the New Madrid fault (which is very much alive), that region of the country is now estimated by the U.S. Geological Survey to have the *highest* probability of a major earthquake before the year 2000 -- higher than San Francisco (whose 1906 earthquake left it in pretty good shape for perhaps another half century), higher than Los Angeles. Also, this area is smack in the center of the Mississippi river valley, which is filled with deep sediment deposits (which tend to liquify and roll like Jello), of the sort that made the recent Mexico City earthquake so destructive. Remember that Mexico City is over 200 miles from the epicenter of its earthquake; Memphis, on the other hand, is only some 40 miles (as I recall) from New Madrid. Since the New Madrid quake occurred before many lived in the area, Midwesterners have tended to feel that earthquakes were not their problem. As a result, few building are quake-resistant. -- Michael McNeil 3Com Corporation "All disclaimers including this one apply" (415) 960-9367 ..!ucbvax!hplabs!oliveb!3comvax!michaelm When we are a million species spreading through the galaxy, the question "Can man play God and still stay sane?" will lose some of its terrors. We shall be playing God, but only as local deities and not as lords of the universe. There is safety in numbers. Some of us will become insane, and rule over empires as crazy as Doctor Moreau's island. Some of us will shit on the morning star. There will be conflicts and tragedies. But in the long run, the sane will adapt and survive better than the insane. Nature's pruning of the unfit will limit the spread of insanity among species in the galaxy, as it does among individuals on earth. Sanity is, in its essence, nothing more than the ability to live in harmony with nature's laws. Freeman Dyson, 1979, *Disturbing the Universe*