Waiting for the Big One

Ever since a minor earthquake was reported just south of Cape Girardeau a few weeks ago I have been on the lookout for the Big One.

I remember back in 1990 when Iben Browning predicted a major earthquake would hit on the New Madrid fault Dec. 3. At the time I was a sixth-grader in St. Charles, Mo.

My family, like a lot of families, didn't really think anything would happen but started gathering non-perishable goods to keep in the basement just in case.

By the time December rolled around, we had two giant rubber trash cans full of bottled water, canned goods and medical supplies.

Everyone at school Dec. 3 was talking about the quake as if it were really going to happen. Everyone who came to school, that is. A lot of parents decided to keep their children at home, and some teachers called in "sick." By the end of the day we were pretty sure we weren't going to die in a quake, but the threat was still there.

Each year after that we practiced regular earthquake drills along with the fire and tornado drills we had done all along.

Despite the regular drills, I didn't really think too much about earthquakes until I got to be a junior in high school. That's when I started looking at colleges.

My sisters both went to Mizzou, so naturally it was a possibility because of its familiarity. Truman State University in Kirksville, Mo., was also a possibility because some friends from high school were going to school there. And then there was Southeast.

My cousin, Kelly, was a freshman at Southeast, and she had nothing but good things to say about it.

When I came down to tour the campus I immediately loved the campus and even more so the town because it reminded me of St. Charles when I was younger -- small, but growing.

So I weighed my options.

Mizzou was familiar, but large.

Truman had friends, but no shopping centers.

Southeast was great, but there was a major fault line running almost right under the school.

I debated whether I wanted to risk spending four years in a town where I could be sucked into the ground within mere seconds if the Big One hit.

My parents and the people in the admissions office at Southeast finally convinced me that if the Big One really were to hit, it would do just as much damage in St. Louis and would probably be felt all the way to Columbia, too.

So I packed my bags thinking if I could just make it four years without a quake I could hightail it out of town and never come back.

It sounded like a good idea, but the longer I stayed in Cape Girardeau the more I liked the town.

And the more I kept myself busy, the less I thought about the Big One.

Until the small quake shook Scott County a few weeks back.

Now I think the end is near every time a big truck drives down my street and rattles my apartment windows.

I've heard some people say you're more likely to be struck by lightning than you are to die in an earthquake.

Either way I'm not taking my chances. If the Big One comes, I'll be ready with a pantry full of canned goods and bottled water.

Heather Kronmueller is a staff writer for the Southeast Missourian.