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_1473552312

Zackery.White

"Does our clinical practice acknowledge what we already know—namely, that social and environmental forces will limit the effectiveness of our treatments?"

"This means working at multiple levels, from “distal” interventions—performed late in the process, when patients are already sick—to “proximal” interventions—trying to prevent illness through efforts such as vaccination or improved water and housing quality."

"Yet risk has never been determined solely by individual behavior: susceptibility to infection and poor outcomes is aggravated by social factors such as poverty, gender inequality, and racism."

pece_annotation_1474242507

Zackery.White

This group works in varying social ecologies therefore requiring it to be very flexible and prepared for the any possible social ecology it may encounter. It can range from sparse medical facilities in Chad in which they have to set up working clinics and shelter for individuals to war-stricken Yemen in which Safe health locations are key to adequate healthcare.

pece_annotation_1475289215

Zackery.White
Annotation of

This article discusses the health and living inequalities faced by individuals housed in Rikers correctional facilities. It discusses that when individuals are housed there they live in subpar conditions with very little representation in legislature. The infrastructure is crumbling and residences prone to flooding. It also touches on the life lived by post-incarceration individiuals. The end tells of the hardships faced by those because it leaves them without a steady home, very little financial assistance, and a sense of self destruction. 

pece_annotation_1476545087

Zackery.White

Katrina, being that astronomical disaster that it was, has a response factor on a whole new level. The article touches on the response both immediately after and in a longer term context. It touches upon the aid provided by relief agencies throughout and the difficulties faced by those organizations due to scarcity and over demand of recourses.

 

pece_annotation_1478461198

Zackery.White

“The legacy of Chernobyl has been used as a means of signaling Ukraine's domestic and international legitimacy and staking territorial claims; and as a venue of governance and state building, social welfare, and corruption.”

"Citizens, have come to depend on obtainable technologies and legal procedures to gain political regongition and admission to some form of welfare inclusion."

"She told me that Ukrainians were inflating their numbers of exposed persons, that their so-called invalids "didn't want cover." She saw the illnesses of this group as a "struggle for power and mater sources related to the disaster."