Major Earthquake in Arkansas?

Not only is this fault line newly discovered, scientists say it's equally as powerful as the New Madrid fault.

They say it's capable of producing magnitude seven quakes. In fact, there's evidence it already has.

It was this week in 1994 when a 6.7 magnitude earthquake shook people awake in Northridge, California.

The destruction killed 72 people and injured more than 9,000.
Fast forward 15 years and there's a newly discovered 10 mile fault line in Arkansas.

The director of UALR's Earthquake Center Haydar Al-Shukri says it's capable of triggering a strong earthquake. "We are alerting the people to an earthquake of magnitude 6 to a 6.5 in the region," warns Al-Shurki.

Al-Shurki says centuries ago this fault line was responsible for a 7.2 quake. Now he says Arkansas's seismic zones could produce another major tremble at any time.

"Six-point-five is a devastating earthquake, because many of the building in the area were not built to with stand an earthquake of magnitude 6.5," says Al-Shurki.

Even though geologists estimate that the epicenter of this fault line is likely close to Marianna, they say if a powerful earthquake hits, the result could cause serious damage to densely populated developed cities like Little Rock.

In November, there were five small quakes west of Hot Springs. Al-Shukri says these aren't an indication of larger ones to come, but says based on scientific predictions, a big quake in the near future is a strong possibility.

Scientists say the fault line near Marianna runs nearly parallel to a natural gas pipe line owned by Arkla Energy.

Arkansas' Earthquake Center says if a major earthquake happens in Arkansas, the damage could reach neighboring states. They say although the fault line wasn't known until recently, it's not new. In fact, in the past 5,000 thousand years Al-Shukri says it likely caused one of the biggest quakes in history.

Scroll down to read a statement by CenterPoint Energy which owns Arkla Energy.

? America's pipeline network is used every day to transport products such as natural gas to homes and business throughout the country. According to the National Transportation Safety Board, pipelines are the safest method of transporting products.

? CenterPoint Energy is committed to the safe and reliable operations of pipelines in our communities. We have our own extensive emergency response plan to respond to pipeline incidents and natural disasters and we also work very closely with emergency response officials.

? In an emergency situation, we will immediately dispatch personnel to the site to handle the emergency and provide information to public safety and emergency response officials to aid in their response. We also take necessary precautions to minimize the impact of the emergency.

? There are many underground "highways" that transport products for various companies similar to roads above the ground and it's important that the public understands that they are there and familiarize themselves with the locations of pipelines.

Alicia Dixon
Manager, Public Relations