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Seismic St. Louis

Emily Sekine
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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. 

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Alexi Martin
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The data used to produce the claims in the report were investigations of past American disasters and how these shortcomings eventually lead to a failure for those investigating 9/11. Direct quotes and explanation of each of the historical events were also used to support the claims made.

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Alexi Martin
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The author is Didier Fassin, he is an anthropologist and socialogist who conducted research in Senegal, Ecuador, South AFrica and France. He used to be a doctor, but now is a professor at Princeton. He is suited in respect to emergency response because studying the people is how to help those affected by disaster.

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Alexi Martin
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7. The article’s bibliography is extensive, this points out that there was time and effort put in place to gather the proper evidence in order to prove their argument. There is also a lot of supporting evidence, proving that the argument is valid.

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Alexi Martin
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The main findings/arguements presented in this article is the need to stop putting the possibility of a nuclear disaster on the back burner and becoming more well versed in how to handle these accidents and how to prevent them from occuring. This can be accomplished by creating an internation SWAT team that is trained to handle international nuclear diasters.

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Alexi Martin
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The report's bibliography, while not directly presented, can presume to be very extensive. The atuhor needs evidence to support her argument as well as her field work. Backround knowledge also needs to be supported.