The Eastern U.S. rides atop a horrifying geologic secret. Are you sure you want to know?

Try not to lose sleep, but a massive quake is coming.

Scientists have a new explanation for why mysterious quakes strike the Eastern U.S. when no fault lines are present. The crust of the earth is falling away beneath your feet.

LOS ANGELES, CA (California Network) - Contrary to popular belief, Californians don't have a monopoly on earthquakes. Earthquakes are widely known to strike along the American west coast, and are quite common, but on occasion the Eastern U.S. gets a good shaking.

Famous quakes seem to strike roughly twice per century in the Eastern U.S. However, the Eastern U.S. is in the middle of a continental plate, so there are no active fault lines or volcanoes to speak of. Faults and volcanoes are features of seismically active regions and are common along plate boundaries, like the Pacific coast of the United States.

To explain the quakes, scientists peered into the earth, measuring waves generated by earthquakes from far away. By timing the arrival of these waves, they have been able to map the interior of the Earth. Their conclusion is that the quakes are caused by a thinning of the crust under the Eastern U.S.

The Earth's crust is divided into plates which vary in thickness between 20 and 30 miles. Oceanic plates are much thinner. Beneath these plates, the interior of the Earth becomes molten instead of rigid, the deeper it goes.

As these plates move, they are subjected to forces on all sided and chunks occasionally fall off deep under the surface. It could be this fracturing of the crust that is causing these quakes.

The most worrisome fact about these quakes is they cannot be predicted and can occur anywhere. They do not occur along known faults or produce earthquakes of a particular magnitude for which people can prepare.

The only defense is a constant state of preparedness. But when such events only happen twice per century, and when none occurred in the 20th century, convincing people of the need is virtually impossible.

The last two quakes of significant magnitude occurred in 1886 Charleston, SC (M7) and then in 2011, at Mineral, VA (M5.8).

In addition to these major quakes, many much smaller quakes have occurred, most far too small to feel.

Scientists now believe the Eastern U.S. could have a major quake of its own, and events like the New Madrid quakes (cM8.1) can happen again, but there is no way to guess where or when.

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