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Illinois Earthquake Rattles Insurers

January 4, 2006

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A minor earthquake hit a small town in southern Illinois, jangling the nerves of insurance companies still reeling from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. A major fault line runs through the Midwest and experts disagree about whether a major earthquake is likely there.

The quake struck yesterday at 3:48 p.m. and registered magnitude 3.6, according to the National Earthquake Information Center in Denver. The center of the earthquake was near Equality, Ill., which is about 120 miles southeast of St. Louis. No damage was reported.

Three of the most powerful earthquakes in history, all measuring over magnitude 8, struck the region in the winter of 1811-12, leveling virtually every home within 250 miles of the New Madrid fault line. Damage was reported as far away as Charleston, South Carolina, and Washington, D.C.

To this day, the area has more earthquakes than any other part of the United States east of the Rocky Mountains.

Some insurance companies, including Safeco, have stopped writing earthquake coverage in Illinois and Missouri because of fears that the New Madrid fault is likely to become active.

Few homeowners in the Midwest have earthquake insurance. In Missouri less than 50 percent of homeowners near the fault line purchase the coverage.

Insurance Journal recently reported that experts disagree about the dangers of a major earthquake along New Madrid. A recent study by the University of Memphis indicated the the fault was active, while Purdue University experts downplayed the study saying that fault is not active or a threat.

In 1811, the central Mississippi Valley was sparsely populated. Today, the region is home to millions of people, including those in the cities of St. Louis, Missouri, and Memphis, Tennessee.

Adding to the danger, most structures in the region are not built to withstand earthquake shaking, as they have been in California and Japan, where earthquakes are more frequent but generally affect a smaller area.

Strong earthquakes in the New Madrid seismic zone are "certain" to occur in the future, according to the United States Geological Survey.

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