Future quakes on New Madrid fault could cause much damage

By Alan Spearman/ The Associated Press

December 16, 2011 | 1:26 p.m. CST

In this Thursday, Dec. 8, 2011, photo, Gavin Sullivan holds sand from an area on his family's 8,000 acre farm in Burdette, Ark. None of the Sullivan family's crops will grow because of the 1811-12 New Madrid earthquakes that began 200 years ago on Dec. 16, 1811. A repeat of the powerful earthquakes that struck the central United States 200 years ago could result in billions of dollars in damaged buildings and a massive disruption to the lives of millions of people in Memphis, St. Louis and other cities in between.