According to my junior high science teacher, an earthquake in Duluth is extremely unlikely. There are no known tectonic faults going through the region. However, if the "end times" are nigh, I would assume the laws of science are out the window.

From earthquake.usgs.gov:

In general, east of the Rockies, individual known faults and fault lines are unreliable guides to the likelihood of earthquakes. In California, a large earthquake can generally be associated with a particular fault because we have watched the fault break and offset the ground surface during the earthquake. In contrast, east of the Rockies things are less straightforward, because it is rare for earthquakes to break the ground surface. In particular, east of the Rockies, most known faults and fault lines do not appear to have anything to do with modern earthquakes. We don't know why.

...

Even if we could pin an individual earthquake on an individual fault, that would still be only part of the answer we want. There is, in general, no reliable way to know where or when the NEXT damaging earthquake will occur, and that is the earthquake that is of the greatest interest to society. 

There is the Douglas Fault, that created Amnicon Falls.  It runs from the falls to down close to the Twin Cities (Rush City area).  Considering it's been billions of years since there was any activity, I'd assume we're safe.

Another fun geological fact:  the ancient Brule river used to flow in the opposite direction!

But really aren't you worried about what will happen to your pets if the rapture were to occur tomorrow?  

http://www.progressivepuppy.com/the_progressive_puppy/2009/10/post-rapture-pet-care-service-run-by-atheists.html

Lakes can slosh around after a distant earthquake (seismic seiches).  Lake Pontchartrain in Louisiana reported 18" waves yesterday, caused by the Chilean quake hours earlier.  

We were admiring the moonlit ice on Superior last night, when the lake surged a bit, for no apparent reason. The wind picked up a short time later, so the less interesting explanation seems most likely.

[img]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:North_america_craton_nps.gif[/img]

Other than erosion, the geology of Duluth and northeast Minnesota is essentially cold and dead today. The region (along with much of the central North America) is situated in what's called the North American craton - a region of relative stability - at least for the past 600 million years. But if you were hanging around Duluth a few hundred million years earlier (a billion years ago), then you would have had something to worry about. At that time, the continent was splitting in two and lava was pouring out of a major rift that ran from Michigan to Kansas, and right down the middle of where Lake Superior is today. This went on for millions of years. The rifting eventually ended and the area stabilized again. Duluth and the Arrowhead region today set atop these ancient lava beds (now basalt and gabbro and the like), which are estimated to be between 7-12 miles thick! 

Earthquakes do occur in areas of the North American craton. As someone else mentioned, Chicago just experienced an earthquake earlier this month. It wasn't a very big one, only 3.8 magnitude. Earthquakes have also been reported in south-central Minnesota. (http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/states/minnesota/history.php)  Then there's the New Madrid fault around southern Illinois-Missouri border. In the the winter of 1811-12, there were a series of earthquakes (magnitude 7.8-8.1) around the town of New Madrid, MO that were the most powerful ever reported in the contiguous United States. It's still an active area.

@Karasu, the quote doesn't say that earthquakes don't occur east of the Rockies. They obviously do. It says that east of the Rockies, faults and fault-lines have little to do with where earthquakes occur.

Every time I write "east of the Rockies" I think of Coast to Coast AM, which wants me to believe that an earthquake is definitely going to happen right in my living room in 2012.

What's worse, JP, is that "10.5: Apocalypse" is a sequel.

We are safe here.  Middle of the craton, baby!  There are other concerns for us here.

I've been taught that Northern Minnesota can experience minor seismic activity due to glacial rebound.

And the spirit of Gitche Gumee.

The Great Lakes are probably a pretty high target for terrorism, considering they constitute the highest concentration of fresh water on the planet.  Coupled with the status of Duluth-Superior as a major inland port, and I'm somewhat surprised we don't see more federal security around here ... or maybe we don't see them because they don't want to be seen.

@zoomerang: IF (and this is a big IF...) IF th turrorists can make it this far...

there's a couple thousand miles of ground and airspace to cover, both north and south of the border, and the likelihood of such an operation taking place given the logistical magnitude requisite to pull such an operation off would be astoundingly astronomical to keep off the radar...not to mention there are far more guns and gun owners betwixt here and wherever th supposed bad guys are coming from than anyplace else in the world.

Q: "What're you gonna do when the terrerists come for you?"

A: laugh.

Somehow I knew it would swerve into this topic...