The seismic shocks that reverberated throughout the Midwest last week might not have caused significant insurance claims and damage to the regions surrounding the earthquake's epicenter, but one thing is certain: The notion that natural catastrophes only occur on our nation's coastlines was shook loose.

In an article Claims published last May, author Gary Brown made the case that earthquakes have the potential to cause at least as much -- if not greater -- distress to commerce than hurricanes, both in terms of building structures and business operations, particularly if an earthquake event of significant magnitude strikes a Pacific Rim metropolis.

That statement was reinforced with the awakening of the New Madrid seismic zone last week. This zone lies within the central Mississippi Valley, extending from northeast Arkansas, through southeast Missouri, western Tennessee, western Kentucky to southern Illinois, and has historically been the site of some of the largest earthquakes in North America, according to the department of earth and atmospheric sciences at St. Louis University.