Introduct 'on: Seismicity, quaternary faulting, and seismic hazard

More than 9 million people live within the boundary of the Illinois basin, most of them in four of the midcontinent's largest urban areas. The basin is characterized by moderate seismicity and abundant surface and subsurface geological and geophysical information. Therefore, the basin, which is directly northeast of the New Madrid seismic zone, is an excellent place to study the enigmatic geologic controls on cratonic seismicity, with potential applications to the basin and throughout the cratonic part of the midcontinent. The papers of this issue address the goal of seismic-hazard assessment in the Illinois basin by better characterizing earthquake sources, reporting the monitoring of earthquakes and deformation, and producing and disseminating seismic-hazard products.