159 million Americans face elevated earthquake risk as hazard zone grows
An alarming number of Americans find themselves in the danger zone of a devastating earthquake according to new analysis by the US Geological Survey (USGS), with roughly 159.2 million citizens potentially impacted by the natural disaster.
Earthquakes are unfortunately common in various hot spots across the United States, but more people could be in danger than previously expected with the risk of destruction stretching far beyond the east coast.
Nearly half of the country has been identified within a growing risk area, with the USGS increasing its capture zone from 111.8 million people identified in previous data analysis.
As reported by the Daily Mail, if an earthquake on this scale were to strike, it would have the potential to heavily damage, if not completely topple buildings — and it's not hard to see how that would dramatically impact people's lives in the immediate and long-term aftermath.
Which areas find themselves at risk?
Beyond the state of California – which is deemed by scientists to be the most frequent spot for earthquakes in the whole of the United States – the risk has also extended to states covered by the New Madrid Seizmic Zone, alongside major cities like New York, Atlanta, and St Louis.
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The New Madrid Seismic Zone in particular covers a 150-mile-long (240 kilometers) fault line, with the five states of Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Illinois all impacted by the area.
It is also home to some rather worrying earthquake prophecies, with mystic figures suggesting that significant lives could be lost in the near future thanks to an earthquake along this dangerous zone.
What's important to understand, however, is that the USGS survey does not suggest that an earthquake impacting all of these people is on the horizon, but merely that new data tools have discovered a far wider number of people and areas that could be potentially impacted by a significant natural disaster.
Extending the level of an earthquake to merely 'strong' shaking would raise the number of people impacted to a staggering 234 million – roughly 68.3% of the total American population – causing potentially tens of trillions of dollars worth of damage as a result.
How bad could the damage be?
Conservative estimates indicate that around 47.3 million homes could be potentially destroyed by an earthquake across the United States, with that equating to roughly $26.5 trillion worth of property damage as a result.
Not only does this put the lives of those within those buildings at extreme risk, almost definitely leading to an alarming number of fatalities, but the damage to roads and bridges especially would leave people isolated away from vital healthcare and resources.
That's why the aforementioned cities of New York, Atlanta, and St Louis would be particularly impacted, as they rely heavily on bridges for transportation that would be likely wiped out by a prospective earthquake.
Those who manage to survive the earthquake would also find their evacuation routes likely cut off or severely impacted, once again increasing the risk of further danger by sticking around.