Tonight as I was cooking our super on our back deck, I could hear nearby rooster crowing and cows mooing. I thought about the earthquakes of the last few days. Earthquakes that were not where they are supposed to be. The New Madrid fault came to mind. In the very early 1800s there was an earthquake along the New Madrid Fault of a magnitude of 8.9. What many people don't realize about the richter scale is it goes up exponentially. A 6.1 is twice as strong as a six. A seven is 10 times the strength as a 6. If you would like to imagine the effects of an 8.9 some good reading would be The Rift, by Walter J. Williams. It is a book well worth the read.