Is America Next on the Quake Hit List?

As Japan works to recover from the devastating earthquake of last week, many of us here in America have wondered:

Can it happen here?  YES, it can happen here and probably very soon.

How well would our cities fare after a major quake?   Not very well.

Newsweek magazine and MSNBC linked up to share the paranoia on the probability of a major quake hitting America - stories like this one peppered coverage on the network both Saturday and Sunday.

Newsweek contributor Simon Winchester cites a little seismic history for us and then basically handicaps the possibility of North America getting hit with a major quake in the near future.

Did you catch that?  Based on statistics alone, he cites the chances that a big rumbler like the one that hit Japan will hit close to home:

The New Madrid Fault (St. Louis, Cincinnati, Memphis. . . basically the middle of America) - within the next century. An expert at St. Louis University claims the earthquake in Japan shook the planet so hard that halfway around the world, the city of St. Louis moved up and down a quarter of an inch.

Oakland, California - You've got 25 years of worry ahead.

The Cascadia Fault (Cascadia Subduction Zone, spanning 600 miles from British Columbia to Northern CA) - Possibly sonner than Oakland.

The law of averages says that anything will happen that can.  (Unless you are a Chicago Cubs fan.) And many in the sports world talk about believing in something called 'the concept of due." Basically explained, if you believe in 'due' then you think the odds that something that has not happened is going to happen very soon. As in overdue to happen.

We have not had a major seismic event in this country for some time now.  Let's hope that Mother Nature does not watch MSNBC, does not read Newsweek and does not believe in 'due.'  But just in case, maybe we should all do a little planning.