Can Memphis even have a decent skyscraper?

[doormanpoet]

Funny thing is that when they built the Pyramid, they did not build it earthquake friendly! They saved 13 million dollars by NOT installing the giant springs in the foundation that give the building the ability to sway and lean without falling down. Remember in the San Fransisco earthquake more than a decade ago, rebar was not used in the highway system that colapsed and the contractor was held liable.

[memphismike]

Actually, Goldstrike Casino in Tunica, MS, now in the Memphis MSA, touts its 30-story hotel tower as the tallest building in Mississippi. I don't know if that's true, but they use that fact in their marketing.

Maybe if they sell us a strip of land with a highway all the way down to Biloxi-Gulfport-Pascagoula...plus their entire income tax base for the next 50 years.

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[northernbizzkit1]

Actually, Goldstrike Casino in Tunica, MS, now in the Memphis MSA, touts its 30-story hotel tower as the tallest building in Mississippi. I don't know if that's true, but they use that fact in their marketing.

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I think the Imperial Palace Casino in Biloxi has the tallest building in Mississippi. It was supposed to be in the upper twenties (Keesler AFB wanted a smaller tower, for it would get in the way for take-offs from their airstrip), but the contracter still went higher and made it into the thirties...I may be wrong though, for I can't find any mention of such and occurance...O well, I may have been lying to you. My grandpa who lives in Biloxi was my source...hmmm...maybe he's getting a tad senile...haha jk.

[sleepy]

Nashville is not on the New Madrid Fault...it runs straight down the Mississippi.

Nashville has almost no geologic activity going on (besides erosion of the Nashville Dome).  Nashville can feel the major quakes, but is not really in any danger.  Knoxville has some earthquake activity, however.

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I never said Nashville is "on the New Madrid Fault". I said it's in the New Madrid Fault zone, as the map you posted indicates.

For that matter, Memphis is not on the New Madrid Fault. It ends 40 miles northwest at Marked Tree AR.

While certainly Memphis is much more in a danger zone than Nashville, Owensboro KY had noticeable tremors awhile back.

St. Louis is considered vulnerable as well, yet the map shows it comparable to Nashville.

[doormanpoet]

You know what is funny is that Manhattan, NYC is on a landfill! My cousins on my fathers side helped build the world trade center doing high steel. One told me that they had to excavate several feet of garbage before they could get to the granite bed rock!

Here is a geological fact!

The only US cities sitting totally on a bed of rock are NYC, Denver and yes....Nashville!

The midwest is clay, the southwest is sand, the west coast is sand, and the east coast is sand, clay, and has a lot of caves.

[nashvol85]

The only US cities sitting totally on a bed of rock are NYC, Denver and yes....Nashville!

The midwest is clay, the southwest is sand, the west coast is sand, and the east coast is sand, clay, and has a lot of caves.

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You're right. Nashville sits on rock because of the erosion of the newer rock. If you look at a geologic map, the Nashville rock is from a much older period (Ordovician) than the rock around it (Mississippian).

[Rural King]

Yeah, if anyone knows the history of reelfoot lake it was created by a series of earthquakes from 1811-12 where a huge amount of land sank below the water level and the Mississippi River filled in the area to become Tennessee's largest natural lake. If an earthquake was strong enough to do that I'm sure it would be strong enough to cause a lot of damage in Memphis.

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I know a thing or two about Reelfoot Lake and the New Madrid Fault. I grew up only about 18 miles from the epicenter of the earthquake and closer than that to the Lake (as the crow flies ). Planning on going fishing on Reelfoot here in the near future.

[doormanpoet]

I was told once that the limestone in Nashville can withstand pressures of 13,000 pounds of pressure per square inch!

[Clobber]

okay here the thing about Memphis and earthquakes.

Memphis sits on the mississippi RIver which over the course of thousands of years has changed course several times, leaving several different river beds and a deep clay layer through that area. If i large earthqauek were to hit the memphis area, Downtown would litterally be leveled to to Liquifaction of the clay soil. 2nd Memphis does have a height limit, but only in certain parts of downtown, for example right up next to the river. 2nd off, as the downtown residental population grows and in a way white flight reverses itself, downtown Memphis "office" growth will catch up. Nashvill maybe on "fire" now but they wont be able to maintain it for another decade before they slow down.

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I think the soft clay is more of an issue regarding Mud Island than the bluff top. There is a serious concern that the Mud Island might liquify in a big earthquake. I find it doubtful that the same would be true for buildings along Second and Third or even Front Street. The bluff has been pretty stable for centuries, it's the area very close to the river and the added land (i.e. when Tom Lee Park was expanded) that I would be concerned about.

[ricky_the_great]

speaking of earthqaukes there was a 4.1 in Memphis today.