Fortunately, Tuesday's (February 21) New Madrid Seismic Zone 4.0 magnitude earthquake—with an epicenter in Missouri that was felt in perhaps as many as 13 states, including Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri and Tennessee—resulted in no reported deaths or major damage. But that has not always been the case.

About 200 years ago, four of the largest recorded earthquakes in North America took place in the New Madrid zone. All are believed to have been in the 8.0 range. The New Madrid area covers eight states, including the cities of Memphis and Nashville, Tennessee; and St. Louis and Little Rock, Arkansas. Seismic instruments have recorded more than 4,000 quakes in the zone just since 1974. Thankfully, most were too small to be felt.

We know that a large earthquake in this region today could be a significant disaster with tremendous effects on lives, property and the economy. The solution to preventing those impacts is to adopt and enforce the most up-to-date building codes available. Building requirements that address seismic hazards have been shown to protect lives and property. They have been used in quake-prone California since 1927 and continuously improved since then.

That is why local building code officials are such unsung heroes in our communities. They have the responsibility to ensure that the buildings we live, work and play in are as safe as possible. Building codes have done their job, especially when you compare damage and loss of life caused by earthquakes in the United States to similar events in nations that do not adopt and enforce equally stringent codes.

But there is always more we can and must do as we continue to learn new information about hazards and gain greater knowledge about safe construction. Building smart saves lives and money. Let's not be penny-wise and pound-foolish. Let's support strong and sustainable building codes and the dedicated code officials who apply and enforce them.