In the San Madrid Earthquakes of 1811/1812 Church Bells in Boston rang!
Earthquakes caused by the New Madrid Fault result in larger affects than those in California: The 1906 San Francisco Earthquake of Magnitude 6.7 covered about 6,000 square miles, whereas a moderate 1895. San Madrid Earthquake of 6.7 covered roughly 50,000 square miles The 1895 Earthquake was felt from Southern Louisiana to Northern Michigan and from Central Kansas to Eastern Virginia and Eastern Pennsylvania - It would have been felt in Washington.
(Note: This was not the "Big One" of 1811/1812, which would have covered an even larger area. You can read up about the 1811/1812 NM Earthquake here at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1812_New_Madrid_earthquake - I don't normally use Wikipedia, but it has several links that are useful.)So, let's list the "Big Environmental Disasters" that happen in the early days of the "Coming of the Rifts" in North America (Forget the rest of the world for a moment...though we can imagine at least one or two more Supervolcano's probably explode elsewhere on the planet, not to mention hundreds of mega-Tsunami's that make the Sumatri one's look like a splash in a bathtub).
DAY 1:1. "Blue Lines" (ie: Ley Lines" Erupt). Most people would not consider this a "Natural Disaster", but they are a natural part of the planet. They interfere with transportation, communication, and cause panic just by their existence...not to mention that Monsters and Demons come thru them.
2. Storms are spawned from the "Blue Lines." They consist of anything from super-charged regular storms (Rain, MDG Lightning, Hail the size of Watermelons, etc) to the plain...weird (Demons falling from the sky, blood rain, etc).
3. Mega-Tsunami's push at least 100 miles inland on the Eastern Coast of North America. The Eastern Seaboard of the U.S. is wiped. Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and the coast of Newfoundland are devastated, and Prince Edward Island disappears under the relentless waves.
4. The West Coast of North America is savaged by mega-Tsunami's, mega-storms, and rapid-fire Earthquakes (7-9 on the Richter Scale)
5. Mount Saint Helens and nine other western volcanoes erupt.
(Some ideas: Newberry Volcano in Oregon, Mono-Inyo Craters in California. For ideas of the initial 9, check this USGS site: http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/publications/assessments.php. You will have to download their DJVU program before reading the USGD reports. Anyway, I suspect that many, many more volcanoes, new and olde, would erupt in the days, months and years to come.).
6. A massive Cat-5 hurricane (Texas Sized) engulfs the Caribbean up to Florida on top of the mega-Tsunami.
7. (Conjecture...) The San Madrid Fault Line lets off a series of Earthquakes. Several are 9+ (Perhaps one or two 9.9), dozens of aftershocks of 8+ and thousands more of 7 or less.
(I would suspect that the quake would be felt throughout the entire North American Continent)8. The Mississippi River surges over it's banks, flooding every single community from Minnesota to the Gulf Coast.
(Presumably caused by the San Madrid Fault earthquake. I would also suspect that other rivers, streams, lakes and bodies of water would be similarly affected.)9. Northern Canada sinks into a devastating Winter from BC to Manitoba and stretches all the way to the Arctic.
DAY 3:The Yellowstone Super-Volcano Erupts. Lava, rock and sulfur fills the air and rains down on the US & Canada from the Pacific Coast to Nebraska.
DAY 4:The entire area from the Rockies to the Midwest is covered by 15 feet of Ash from the Yellowstone Supervolcano eruption.
(See the following site for area coverage, videos, and explanations http://www.solcomhouse.com/yellowstone.htm. A GM could also have the Long Valley Caldera in California explode if he/she wanted to...not that too many would notice another Supervolcano exploding.)DAY 5:The sun is blocked by the ash and particulates spewed out by hundreds of volcanoes and at least one Supervanolco exploding, burning cities and forests, storms and "abnormal" disturbances. Temperatures drop around the world by an average of 30-40 degrees F. In the Tropics by 20-30 degrees F, and upwards to 50-60 F in the Northern Hemisphere. Plants begin to whither and die. Animals begin to die from starvation. Global Winter sets in.
DAY 6:Things get gets worse as the survivors realize that the environment is not the only thing that they have to endure. Monsters and Demons begin to appear, killing and torturing the survivors.
In short, I would hazard a guest that from day 1 to day 5 an estimated 80% of the population of North American will die from the "Natural Disasters." The rest are left to the tender mercies of the Monsters and Demons coming from the Rifts.
A very grim future...one that will test the mettle of everyone.
One that will require leaders.
One that will require Heroes.
~ Nadrakas