Scientists studying the 7.7-magnitude earthquake which shook India, causing tremendous property damage and claiming the lives of 20,000 people, announced that an even stronger quake might occur along the New Madrid fault which runs through the Mid-South. On the other hand, some scientists believe that the New Madrid fault is too short and fat to produce a significant quake. Noting that both the Indian fault and the New Madrid fault, similar in size and shape, produced large quakes during the early 1800s, one scientific camp believes that major earthquakes can occur every few hundred years. Another camp, however, holds that significant quakes occur only every thousand or so years. In light of all this new highly scientific information, it is clear that Memphis may (or may not) experience a major earthquake sometime in the near (or distant) future. Should we experience a quake, people may (or may not) die and/or suffer injury/property damage.
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