Thursday, March 29 2012 2253 Rayburn 10:00 to 11:00 AM The New Madrid and Wabash Valley seismic zones affect 8 states -- Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi and Alabama. A series of very large magnitude earthquakes and hundreds of aftershocks occurred in the New Madrid region in 1811 and 1812, causing havoc for the small population of the time. A magnitude 5.8 earthquake in the Central Virginia Seismic Zone in August of 2011 shook Mineral, Virginia and was felt over much of the Eastern United States. The earthquake shutdown the North Anna Nuclear Power Plant and caused damage in Virginia, Washington DC and beyond. Seismic zones in the East can generate significant earthquakes and tend to surprise people who are not accustomed to earthquakes. The briefing will discuss efforts to understand earthquakes in the East and to reduce risks to life, property and infrastructure. In Cooperation with the Congressional Hazards Caucus, co-chaired by Representative Zoe Lofgren and Senators Mary Landrieu, Lisa Murkowski and Ben Nelson Sponsored by the American Geosciences Institute and the Geological Society of America Moderator David Spears, Virginia State Geologist, Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy Speakers J. Wright Horton, Jr., U.S. Geological Survey, National Center, Reston, Virginia Learning from the 2011 Virginia Earthquake Charles Langston, Director of the Center for Earthquake Research and Information, University of Memphis, Tennessee Understanding Earthquakes in the New Madrid Seismic Zone James M. Wilkinson, Jr., Executive Director of the Central United States Earthquake Consortium, Memphis, Tennessee Planning, Preparing and Responding to Earthquake Risks in Mid-America