Be Prepared When Tremors Come: Earthquake Issues in the Mid‐South

The seismic hazard in the Mid‐South, including the states of Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Mississippi, has been brought to public concern in the past decade because of the proximity of these states to the famous New Madrid seismic zone (NMSZ). This well‐studied earthquake hazard became a hot issue in this region after the Loma Prieta earthquake in California, on October 17, 1989. Many local issues are being debated or discussed in developing appropriate earthquake policy and plans, The writer, as an educator and reseacher in earthquake engineering at Memphis State University, addresses several of these earthquake issues regarding the long‐term design consideration for a long recurrence period major earthquake, revision of building code, and construction cost for earthquake resistant design and their social impacts.