Is the New Madrid fault in The United States Midwest about to rupture causing a major earthquake?

People are familiar with the Ring of Fire and the earthquake prone areas around the Pacific Ocean.  Those on the west Coast are especially aware of the earthquake areas in which they live.   California, and the rest of the western United States, including the Seattle area where I live, are regularly reminded of the threat of "the big one" and that we are overdue for a major earthquake.

Most people do not realize that some of the largest earthquakes in United States history happened in the Midwest in 1811-1812.  The estimated magnitude for the earthquakes in this series range from 7.2 - 8.1. These earthquakes were felt as far away as Boston, Massachusetts.^1,2  Earthquakes of this size can cause damage on the west coast but because of soil liquefaction, will cause extensive damage in the Midwest if an earthquake of this size was to happen now.

The New Madrid Fault is becoming very active.  There have been 11 earthquakes in the past seven days.  The increase in earthquake activity bares watching.

The New Madrid Fault is known to be a very high risk for a major earthquake in the next 20-50 years - even as high as the West Coast, Alaska, Hawaii, and the rest of the Ring of fire.^1,2

Last seven days Arkansas earthquakes:

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/quakes_all.php

					MAG UTC DATE-TIME y/m/d h:m:s LAT deg LON deg DEPTH km  Region

MAP 3.0  2010/10/15 18:40:17   35.258   -92.343  5.0  ARKANSAS

MAP 3.8  2010/10/15 10:20:19   35.294   -92.340  7.0  ARKANSAS

MAP 3.4  2010/10/14 10:07:34   35.299   -92.352  4.6  ARKANSAS

MAP 2.7  2010/10/13 07:40:01   35.299   -92.328  3.7  ARKANSAS

MAP 2.6  2010/10/13 05:10:22   35.288   -92.314  4.7  ARKANSAS

MAP 3.6  2010/10/11 16:06:05   35.315   -92.335  5.9  ARKANSAS

MAP 2.5  2010/10/11 13:43:31   35.292   -92.341  6.7  ARKANSAS

MAP 4.0  2010/10/11 13:33:40   35.304   -92.317  5.0  ARKANSAS

MAP 3.0  2010/10/10 12:48:23   35.322   -92.332  4.7  ARKANSAS

MAP 2.6  2010/10/09 13:45:34   35.297   -92.311  7.2  ARKANSAS

MAP 3.0  2010/10/09 04:13:40   35.307   -92.328  5.2  ARKANSAS

1.  http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=215
2.  http://quake.ualr.edu/public/nmfz.htm

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