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Science 27 May 1994:
Vol. 264. no. 5163, pp. 1308 - 1311
DOI: 10.1126/science.264.5163.1308
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Articles

Reconciling Short Recurrence Intervals with Minor Deformation in the New Madrid Seismic Zone

Eugene S. Schweig 1 and Michael A. Ellis 2

1 U.S. Geological Survey and Center for Earthquake Research and Information, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN 38152, USA.
2 Center for Earthquake Research and Information, Memphis, TN 38152, USA.

At least three great earthquakes occurred in the New Madrid seismic zone in 1811 and 1812. Estimates of present-day strain rates suggest that such events may have a repeat time of 1000 years or less. Paleoseismological data also indicate that earthquakes large enough to cause soil liquefaction have occurred several times in the past 5000 years. However, pervasive crustal deformation expected from such a high frequency of large earthquakes is not observed. This suggests that the seismic zone is a young feature, possibly as young as several tens of thousands of years old and no more than a few million years old.

Submitted on December 28, 1993
Accepted on April 13, 1994


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
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Time-dependent Seismic Hazard Maps for the New Madrid Seismic Zone and Charleston, South Carolina, Areas.
J. S. Hebden and S. Stein (2009)
Seismological Research Letters 80, 12-20
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New Madrid seismic zone fault geometry.
R. Csontos and R. Van Arsdale (2008)
Geosphere 4, 802-813
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Reelfoot rift and its impact on Quaternary deformation in the central Mississippi River valley.
R. Csontos, R. Van Arsdale, R. Cox, and B. Waldron (2008)
Geosphere 4, 145-158
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Approaches to continental intraplate earthquake issues.
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Geological Society of America Special Papers 425, 1-16
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Is the New Madrid seismic zone hotter and weaker than its surroundings?.
J. McKenna, S. Stein, and C. A. Stein (2007)
Geological Society of America Special Papers 425, 167-175
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Upland Complex of the central Mississippi River valley: Its origin, denudation, and possible role in reactivation of the New Madrid seismic zone.
R. Van Arsdale, R. Bresnahan, N. McCallister, and B. Waldron (2007)
Geological Society of America Special Papers 425, 177-192
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Tectonic geomorphology of the southeastern Mississippi Embayment in northern Mississippi, USA.
J. Garrote, R. T. Cox, C. Swann, and M. Ellis (2006)
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Constraints on the Location of the Late Quaternary Reelfoot and New Madrid North Faults in the Northern New Madrid Seismic Zone, Central United States.
J. N. Baldwin, J. B. Harris, R. B. Van Arsdale, R. Givler, K. I. Kelson, J. L. Sexton, and M. Lake (2005)
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Quaternary Faulting beneath Memphis, Tennessee.
M. Velasco, R. Van Arsdale, B. Waldron, J. Harris, and R. Cox (2005)
Seismological Research Letters 76, 598-614
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Evidence for Holocene displacements on the Bootheel fault (lineament) in southeastern Missouri: Seismotectonic implications for the New Madrid region.
M. J. Guccione, R. Marple, and W. J. Autin (2005)
Geological Society of America Bulletin 117, 319-333
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A Two-Dimensional Numerical Model for Current Seismicity in the New Madrid Seismic Zone.
A. Gangopadhyay, J. Dickerson, and P. Talwani (2004)
Seismological Research Letters 75, 406-418
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Characteristic and Uncharacteristic Earthquakes as Possible Artifacts: Applications to the New Madrid and Wabash Seismic Zones.
S. Stein and A. Newman (2004)
Seismological Research Letters 75, 173-187
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The Earthquake Potential of the New Madrid Seismic Zone.
(2002)
Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 92, 2080-2089
Did deglaciation trigger intraplate seismicity in the New Madrid seismic zone?.
B. Grollimund and M. D. Zoback (2001)
Geology 29, 175-178
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Quaternary faulting in the southern Mississippi embayment and implications for tectonics and seismicity in an intraplate setting.
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A Mechanical Model for Intraplate Earthquakes: Application to the New Madrid Seismic Zone.
S. J. Kenner and a. P. Segall (2000)
Science 289, 2329-2332
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Fault Slip Rates in the Modern New Madrid Seismic Zone.
K. Mueller, J. Champion, M. Guccione, and K. Kelson (1999)
Science 286, 1135-1138
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Late Wisconsin to Holocene deformation in the New Madrid seismic zone.
R. K. Mihills and R. B. Van Arsdale (1999)
Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 89, 1019-1024
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Slow Deformation and Lower Seismic Hazard at the New Madrid Seismic Zone.
A. Newman, S. Stein, J. Weber, J. Engeln, A. Mao, and T. Dixon (1999)
Science 284, 619-621
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Faulting along the southern margin of Reelfoot Lake, Tennessee.
R. V. Arsdale, J. Purser, W. Stephenson, and J. Odum (1998)
Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 88, 131-139
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Complexity of intracontinental seismic faultings: The Gazli, Uzbekistan, sequence.
R. Bossu, J. R. Grasso, L. M. Plotnikova, B. Nurtaev, J. Frechet, and M. Moisy (1996)
Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 86, 959-971
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Predicting Earthquake Effects--Learning from Northridge and Loma Prieta.
T. L. Holzer and T. L. Holzer (1994)
Science 265, 1182-1183
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