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READ THIS ON ATS NOW I HAVE A UPDATE 2 THIS NOW IAM WONDERING

I have two friends who both work for FEMA here in Illinois. I periodically touch base with them to see what's going on in the state and in the nation. These guys have worked all over from 9/11 to Katrina to Joplin tornadoes this past year. Both of these guys I have know for about 9 years now and have always been on the up and up with me.
In past meetings they've always said that if they deemed it necessary, no matter what, they would care enough to tell their closest friends and family if something was coming down the pipe.
Well, yesterday I stopped by to chat for a bit while out and about. I seriously don't want to give too many clues to whom they may be. There are things I could mention that if the right person where to pick up on this, they would be found without a doubt. In any case, we were standing in the kitchen shooting the bull and I asked them " don't you guys get enough of each other at work that you hang out when your home too..?" They told me they were leaving tonight for "some time" down to the Illinois-Missouri-Tennessee area. I asked them what was going on and was told that if what happens that they think is going to happen, it's going to be a big quagmire. They said that they've been training for many months on the fault zone of New Madrid and that it could happen sooner than later.
I got this big lump in my throat. "So a big earthquake possibly?" He said if this thing "breaks loose" like they've predicted, it will bring massive casualties to big cities in the midwest including Chicago, St. Louis, Memphis, Louisville, etc. Natural gas pipelines will rupture causing uncontrolled fires along with several nuke plants taking massive damage as well. They said that the massive chaos could be enough to declare a Marshal Law situation. Many communications will be down so the panic of not knowing whats going on will cause widespread looting and disorder. The power grid will certainly be affected as well.
This is my first thread, so please folks, what do you think about this?? I trust these guys 110% because they're very good friends and they're family men. They really don't even like the government that they work for.
I left there very frightened and tense. I have no reason to believe ever that they would make this up. They're straight up people, they just work for the wrong side.
Does anyone think there is any validity to the subject besides myself? Any threads lately backing what they're claiming??
Please, go easy on me, I'm not a fear mongerer, just a father and a husband who cares about his family and the people that surrou

UPDATE 2 ABOVE ARTICLE

Missouri earthquake shakes nine states
Updated 38m ago Comments ST. LOUIS (AP) – Just days after the 200th anniversary
of a series of massive earthquakes in southeast Missouri, residents woke up
Tuesday to a rumbling reminder that they live in one of the continent's most
active seismic areas.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the epicenter of a magnitude-4.0 earthquake at
3:58 a.m. was located near the town of East Prairie, Mo., roughly midway between
St. Louis and Memphis. Several people in five states — Missouri, Illinois,
Arkansas, Kentucky and Tennessee — felt the quake, along with scattered people
in four others, as far away as North Carolina and Georgia, according to
responses to the U.S. Geological Survey website.

Only minor damage was reported, such as items falling from shelves, broken
windows, minor cracks in walls and sidewalks, said Amy Vaughan, a geophysicist
for the Geological Survey office in Golden, Colo. No injuries were reported.

East Prairie City Administrator Lonnie Thurmond said the quake lasted perhaps
seven seconds.

"It seemed like everybody I've talked to, it woke 'em up," Thurmond said.

The earthquakes on Dec. 16, 1811, and Jan. 23 and Feb. 7, 1812, were among the
strongest ever in the U.S., their magnitudes estimated to have ranged from 7.7
to 8.1. Shockwaves spread as far as New York and the force of the temblors
reportedly rang church bells in Boston. The Mississippi River reversed flow for
a time.

Those quakes, like the one on Tuesday, occurred in the New Madrid Seismic Zone,
a 150-mile stretch between Memphis and St. Louis that crosses parts of Arkansas,
Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri and Tennessee.

Most of the earthquakes that frequently hit the zone are so small that virtually
no one feels them. Even a magnitude-4.0 quake is rare, occurring in the New
Madrid zone on average about once a year, said Bob Herrmann, a Saint Louis
University geophysicist.

"It's been a while since we had a good shaker in the New Madrid region,"
Herrmann said. "It is a reminder that earthquakes occur and we cannot ignore
them."

Expert opinion varies on the likelihood of another big Midwestern quake along
the New Madrid fault, though many communities in the region have taken
precautions by retrofitting bridges and other structures.

Earthquake drills are also becoming more common. On Feb. 7, nearly 150,000
Missourians and hundreds of schools in the state participated in a drill known
as the "Great Central U.S. ShakeOut."

Experts suggest that the likelihood of a magnitude 6 or greater quake occurring
along the New Madrid fault within a half century is somewhere between 28% and
46%.

"Unfortunately, we cannot predict earthquakes," Herrmann said. "We can look at
historical trends and say one should exercise some caution and prudence."