Earthquake Maps Reveal Higher Risks for Much of U.S.

New government maps extend hazard zones in eastern, central, and western U.S


Look out, South Carolina, Illinois, and Missouri. Although California is well known for earthquakes, new federal government maps extend the high-risk zones for temblors across much more of the country.

On Thursday, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) announced updated U.S. National Seismic Hazard Maps, which reflect the most current scientific views on where future earthquakes will occur, how often they will occur, and how hard the ground will shake.

Since the agency's previous maps were released in 2008, "the general patterns of earthquakes across the U.S. have not changed significantly, but lots of the details have changed," says Mark Petersen, who leads the USGS's mapping efforts from Denver as chief of the National Seismic Hazard Project.


The 16 states at highest risk of quakes are Alaska, Arkansas, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.





http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/07/140717-usgs-earthquake-maps-disaster-risk-science/