The importance of earthquake planning beyond the West Coast

John Yang:

The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that in the next 50 years, there's a 25 to 40 percent chance of an earthquake of at least magnitude 6.0 in the area, and about a seven to 10 percent probability of a repeat of the 1811, 1812 earthquakes.

Brian Houston is Chair of the University of Missouri's Department of Public Health and director of the school's Disaster and Community Crisis Center.

Mr. Houston, this was, of course, the frontier when this happened in the 1810s but if there were a repeat, what would the results be now in that area?

Brian Houston, University of Missouri Disaster and Community Crisis Center: Yeah, I think that's one of the big issues that you bring up is that the last time this happened almost 200 years ago, there weren't a lot of people in the area. And now there are many more, many more millions of people that live in the area, a lot of transportation infrastructure, highways that cross the Mississippi River and other rivers.

And so the impact of an event as strong as what was experienced in the early 1800s would really impact a lot of homes, a lot of businesses, a lot of transportation. And so would have a significant human toll and also economic impact in the area.