# Dissing the New Madrid Fault

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dissing-the-new-madrid-fault/512361>\
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\
**Created:** [October 2, 2009, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dissing-the-new-madrid-fault/512361 "2009-10-02T16:31:52Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\
**Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dissing-the-new-madrid-fault/512361/1 "2009-10-02T16:31:52Z")

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[Cecil’s current output regarding the shaking of a steam roller](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2898/how-do-medical-alert-dogs-know-something-is-wrong-plus)

> [@The Perfect Master](#):
>
> Using a table of equivalence prepared by the U.S. Geological Survey and waving our hands, we can then convert this back to Richter, enabling us to say the shaking you’re getting approximates what you’d experience near the epicenter of a quake measuring roughly 4.0 on the Richter scale — not San Andreas level, but in there with the New Madrid fault.

Given that the New Madrid Fault produced [some of the most intense earthquakes this nation has ever experienced](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Madrid_Seismic_Zone#1811-1812_earthquake_series), this is a completely silly statement. There are other faults one might prefer to pick on as being relatively wimpy. :smack:

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**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\
**Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dissing-the-new-madrid-fault/512361/2 "2009-10-02T16:58:06Z")

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Yeah, but what’s it done for us lately? 🙂

I think the point was that in the last (approximately) 200 years it has been a fault producing much smaller earthquakes. I think, but am not certain, that Cecil was trying to pick a fault that people would know by name, and as it happens has been fairly low in temblorosity in the time of anyone living today.

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**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\
**Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dissing-the-new-madrid-fault/512361/3 "2009-10-02T17:00:23Z")

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In a closely related note, I thought Slug’s illustration for the seizure detection dogs was especially funny.

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**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\
**Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dissing-the-new-madrid-fault/512361/4 "2009-10-02T17:02:31Z")

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> [@Una\_Persson](#):
>
> I think, but am not certain, that Cecil was trying to pick a fault that people would know by name, and as it happens has been fairly low in temblorosity in the time of anyone living today.

Stop making up plausible-sounding words!

> **[Google Search](https://www.google.com/search?q=temblorosity)**

"Your search - temblorosity - did not match any documents. "

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**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\
**Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dissing-the-new-madrid-fault/512361/5 "2009-10-02T17:08:06Z")

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> [@hogarth](#):
>
> Stop making up plausible-sounding words!
> 
> [Google Search](http://www.google.com/search?q=temblorosity)
> 
> "Your search - temblorosity - did not match any documents. "

It’s nothing more than a sniglet, and entirely cromulent too.