By Roger McKinney, Reporter

Pendleton County Judge Executive Henry Bertram, along with the magistrates of the fiscal court and Emergency Management Director Mike Moore have proclaimed February 2013 as Earthquake Awareness Month in Pendleton County.

Geologic and seismic experts believe future earthquakes are inevitable, especially in the area known as the New Madrid Seismic Zone. In 1811 an earthquake involving this fault, which snakes through parts of Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee, caused the Mississippi River to run backwards from 10 to 24 hours and created Reelfoot Lake in the northwest portion of Tennessee.