I grew up in Western Kentucky, about 100-150 miles from the center of the New Madrid Fault zone. Our house was in the obliteration zone, and my family was always prepared for “the big one.” So it’s surprising to me that so many people are generalizing that those in the Midwest are oblivious to the earthquake danger in light of the 5.2 quake that hit Friday. That’s what we call a “hasty generalization.” And it’s unfair to clump us all in one blind boat.

The New Madrid fault is quite active, and anyone who lives or lived close to it knows that. We’re not all dummies, as the press has been portraying us. Because most of the rock in that area is either sandstone, bedrock or limestone, the shaking can be felt from quite aways off, unlike here in Yuma where the soil seems to absorb most of the shock. Even small quakes felt “big.” We had a 3.4 when I was in the seventh grade that shook our desks, even after we climbed under them. But we all knew that if “the big one” came, there would be little chance of survival for many of us.

New Madrid has not “blown” since the 1800s, specifically the earthquake of 1812, when supposedly the ground trembling caused church bells to ring in Boston, and yes, I heard that story told throughout my days in school. Kentucky had just become a state in 1792 and the land south of the Tennessee River was Chickasaw Hunting Ground, though a part of the state, not heavily populated until after the Jackson Purchase. We all know that the Mississippi River “ran backward” and created Reelfoot Lake. With all the small temblors and erosion due to the rivers, I grew up worrying about the “big one.”

We were lucky that we lived “above the dam.” Those dams were the structures holding back Lake Barkley, Kentucky Lake and the Ohio River at Smithland. Rumor has it that there is a structural crack in the Lake Barkley Dam and a similar one in Kentucky Lake’s dam. All New Madrid has to do is set off something close to a 6.5 or a 7 and all that water drowning the Land Between the Rivers (now Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area) will come tumbling down the Cumberland and Tennessee rivers to Paducah and Smithland, flooding all the lowlands in between. The dam on the Ohio upriver from Smithland will be inundated with tens of thousands of gallons of water. Do you think it will remain standing? Hello!

And you know what all that water will do? Flood the Gaseous Diffusion Plant downriver from Paducah, which at one point produced uranium during the Cold War (and still does produce commercial-grade uranium for nuclear reactors). The water beneath and around the plant is known to be contaminated and a massive cleanup effort WAS under way at one point. But, what the heck, nobody thought NOT to build a plant like that on top of an active fault zone. And nobody in Western Kentucky or the Midwest knows about this? Please, what kind of fools do you think we are?

When New Madrid blows, and it’s not a matter of “if,” but when, we’re going to have more problems on our hands than just a few scared idiots. All that water is not going to dilute that much uranium, especially when scientists can tell you exactly how much contamination is floating in plume in the McNarry Aquifer. You think the West has water problems now? Just wait until New Madrid’s next “big one.” I can’t wait to see how the government will justify sending Colorado River water to the Midwest then.

I grew up in the shadow of this mighty fault. We had an earthquake kit out in our shed. We knew to move to high ground because of expected flooding. We knew not to go back into a damaged structure. We knew where the gas lines were in the yard and how to avoid them, especially the septic tank, which would probably cave-in. My mom made sure we would know to boil water if we had to resort to getting spring water. We knew how to turn off the gas at the propane tank. My mom taught us how to build small fires for cooking. Do you think I was a Girl Scout because it was fun?

Try learning all that when you’re an 8-year-old. And wondering if you’ll even make it out of the house alive. And I will always remember what my mom said, “What ever you do, don’t live below the dam.” Anyone living in the shadow of a fault needs an earthquake plan. And a healthy dose of respect for what nature can wrought. I had one. Do you?

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 19th, 2008 at 10:45 pm and is filed under General, Out of the Mouth. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.