Skip to main content

Search

Seismic St. Louis

Emily Sekine

I'm interested in better understanding the ongoing geological processes that shape St. Louis and the Mississippi Valley region. So far, I've been looking into the history of seismicity in the region, focusing on the fascinating but little known history of the New Madrid earthquakes of 1811 and 1812 -- the most devastating earthquakes to have hit the US east of the Rockies. I've also been exploring how St. Louis and surrounding areas are dealing with the possibility of another earthquake occurring in the future. According to one article I read, one of the biggest uncertainties is what would happen to the heavily engineered Mississippi River in the case of another major tremblor. The shaking could break the levees, flooding wide areas along the river and creating cascading effects. The flow of the river might also reverse completely, as occurred during the New Madrid earthquakes.

On these possibilities and the lack of scientific consensus surrounding intraplate seismicity in this zone, see this article in The Atlantic.

On current efforts to create earthquake hazard maps in St. Louis, see this overview on the US Geological Survey site.

For a deeper dive into the history of the New Madrid earthquakes, see this book by historian of science Conevery Bolton Valencius. 

pece_annotation_1472693714

Alexi Martin

This argument is supported through discussion of Soviet Russia and how Chernobyl was handled and the legislation that came after the disaster to prevent/treat further meltdowns. Through discussion of Fukishima and how no one knew what to do (the US, Russia or Japan) despite that people in all these countries have experienced nuclear disasters in the past. The discrepancy of international discussions of safety, security and education, but lack of preparation if something would happen. Discussion of doing this internationally has been talked about, but no steps have been made to accomplish this goal.

pece_annotation_1477946253

Alexi Martin

The three topics I followed up upon was the countries surrounding Ukraine and their impact from the nuclear disaster, the types of radiation poisoning as well as the long term affects, and puterpili (sufferers).

pece_annotation_1472865764

Alexi Martin

The film was shot after the event had already taken place, however in the film it mentioned interventions that were used, methods of putting water on the melting fuel rods. It also indirectly mentioned (hinted at) a need to an emergency nuclear response team internationally.

pece_annotation_1480634894

Alexi Martin

Three points I followed up on to advance my understanding of emergency response was how other countries report and treat rape, rape as a war crime- is it treated or ignored and in what countries, and incidents of sexual violence that get reported and treated, and further care ( how to help others immediately) and how to respond to these events.

pece_annotation_1474078158

Alexi Martin

 

The article referenced historical events of health epidemics in preparing for the future. The lack of current data indicates an improvement in health security or a lack of research for this publication. The extensive quotes in this article show the knowledge and credibility of the article in how securing global health has many aspects.