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Press Release: April 29, 2004
Author Sam Penny Presents
Signed Copy of Memphis 7.9 to
Calloway County Public Library
When A 7.9 Magnitude
Earthquake Again Strikes
On The New Madrid Fault,
What Happens to Murray?
Murray, KY - The Calloway County
Public Library today received a copy of the novel Memphis 7.9
signed by Sam Penny, the author. Ben Graves, Director of the
Calloway County Public Library, received the book as a gift to
the Library.
Memphis 7.9 is Book 1 of The
7.9 Scenario, a series of four novels that describes what happens
to the United States when a great earthquake strikes on the New
Madrid Fault as it did in 1811 and 1812.
"The question that should
be asked is what happens to our cities, our land, and our society
when, not if, a great earthquake once again fractures the New
Madrid Fault in the central United States," Penny says.
"Seismologists agree such an event is inevitable, and though
they disagree on the timing, they estimate there is a 7 to 10%
chance it will happen sometime within the next 50 years. It could
happen next week." Through the eyes of those who are there,
Memphis 7.9 tells of attempts to predict the earthquake and of
the effects across the country when the earthquake happens. Penny
adds, "Most people do not realize the extent of the catastrophe
that will happen."
The Calloway County Public Library
serves the county area with over thirty-three thousand residents,
five thousand of whom are active users of the library facilities.
Its focus is on popular reading and technology and provides support
for K through 12 academics. It has a collection of 55,000 titles,
including books, periodicals, CDs, records, cassettes and other
audio materials, and video items such as DVDs and VHS tapes.
Internet access is provided at the library.
Graves said, "We are pleased
to offer Mr. Penny's book to our reading public. A book of this
type can help educate the public on the dangers that surround
us. Readers will decide if the book alarms them enough to move
them into action, or is so alarming they put the book down."
Penny continues, "My analysis
of USGS and FEMA numbers indicate that Calloway County would
feel high intensity shaking with an intensity exceeding VIII
on the Modified Mercalli Scale. The shaking would last for more
than a minute from a 7.9 magnitude event on the southern extent
of the fault. Damage would be significant. Though fatalities
would be in the 20s and injuries in the low 100s, over a third
of the residents would be left without safe shelter. Destroyed
buildings, broken infrastructure, and fallen power lines would
be found all across the county.
"I chose to present the
results of my studies as fiction instead of a stale scientific
treatise to reach the public, help them understand the danger,
and hopefully, help them learn what they can do now to mitigate
some of the risk of living near an active fault, the most dangerous
fault in the United States." |
