<br><font size=3 face="sans-serif">Dear Colleagues,</font>
<br><font size=3 face="sans-serif">As you know, this next year will mark
the 200th anniversary of the New Madrid earthquakes of 1811 and 1812. One
way that event is being commemorated is with the Seismological Society
of America Annual Meeting in Memphis, Tennessee, April 13-15, 2011. At
this meeting we are convening a special session called, "The New Madrid
Seismic Zone: Our Understanding on the 200th Anniversary of the New Madrid
Earthquake Sequence." In this session we will feature invited talks
that showcase our state of knowledge of the New Madrid seismic zone and
highlight recent results including summaries of the tectonic setting, the
extensive sand-blow area and what they tell us about the earthquake history,
how the eyewitness and personal accounts shape the ground shaking and magnitude
story, the enigmatic causes of earthquakes in this intraplate setting,
and evidence for other faults surrounding the main seismicity trends. </font>
<br>
<br><font size=3 face="sans-serif">We welcome additional talks on these
subjects as well as papers describing recent assessments of the hazard
and the risk posed by the fault zone, including those derived from earthquake
ground motion simulations.</font>
<br>
<br><font size=3 face="sans-serif">Unfortunately, time is somewhat short.
Abstracts are due January 11 and must be submitted online. The
website for the meeting is </font><a href=http://www.seismosoc.org/meetings/2011/index.php><font size=3 face="sans-serif">http://www.seismosoc.org/meetings/2011/index.php</font></a><font size=3 face="sans-serif">.</font>
<br>
<br><font size=3 face="sans-serif">We sincerely hope that you will submit
an abstract and look forward to seeing you in Memphis.</font>
<br>
<br><font size=3 face="sans-serif">Best regards and Happy New Year!</font>
<br><font size=3 face="sans-serif">Rob Williams and Buddy Schweig</font>
<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif"><br>
Robert A. Williams<br>
US Geological Survey<br>
303-273-8636<br>
303-273-8600 fax<br>
</font>