At New Madrid Fault, Shaky Guesses On Next Quake

"The magnitude-5.8 earthquake that rattled the eastern U.S. on Tuesday took everyone — even geoloThe New Madrid earthquakes broke up rock like this section of rock face, which was later filled with sand. This photo, from Mississippi County, Mo., was taken in 1904.gists — by surprise. But even when there are reasons to think an earthquake could be around the corner, scientists still can't make good predictions."

"It has now been 200 years since the last major earthquakes rocked the New Madrid Seismic Zone — a fault system that runs down the central U.S. through parts of Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Arkansas and Tennessee. The region has had plenty of smaller quakes since then, but there's no clear answer to the question of when the next big one is coming."