The New Madrid Earthquake was among the great earthquakes of known history, affecting the topography more than any other earthquake on the North American continent. Judging from their effects, they were of a magnitude of 8.0 or higher on the Richter Scale. They were felt over the entire United States outside of the Pacific coast. Large areas sank into the earth, new lakes were formed, the course of the Mississippi River was changed, and forests were destroyed over an area of 150,000 acres. Many houses at New Madrid were thrown down. "Houses, gardens, and fields were swallowed up" one source notes. But fatalities and damage were low, because the area was sparsely settled then.
Survivors reported that the earthquake caused cracks to open in the earth's surface, the ground to roll invisible waves, and large areas of land to sink or rise. The crew of the New Orleans (the first steamboat on the Mississippi, which was on her maiden voyage) reported mooring to an island only to awake in the morning and find that the island had disappeared below the waters of the Mississippi River. Damage was reported as far away as Charleston, South Carolina, and Washington, D.C.
Scientists estimate that the probability of a magnitude 6 to 7 earthquake occurring in this seismic zone within the next 50 years is higher than 90%. Such an earthquake could hit the Mississippi Valley at any time.
Product Details
ISBN-13: 9780898752106
Media Type: Paperback
Publisher: University Press of the Pacific
Publication Date: 03-01-2001
Pages: 184
Product Dimensions: 6.12(w) x 9.05(h) x 0.45(d)
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Introduction
7
General statement
7
Field work and acknowledgments
7
The story of the earthquake
9
Sources of information
9
Summary of the disaster
10
Previous earthquakes in the Mississippi Valley
11
Recorded shocks
11
Indian traditions
12
Geologic evidence
12
Record of the shocks
13
Atmospheric conditions preceding first shock
13
Time of the shocks
13
Center of disturbance
14
Earlier shock
14
Subsequent shocks
15
Area affected
16
General destructiveness of the shocks
17
Number and distribution of the shocks
17
Effects of the shocks outside of the New Madrid area
21
Mississippi Valley
21
Ohio Valley
22
Louisville
22
Cincinnati
26
Other localities
27
Great Lakes region
28
Atlantic Coastal and Piedmont plains
29
Nature of the vibrations
31
Classification of intensities
33
Periods of activity
33
Relation of distribution of shocks to time of day
35
Relation of distribution of shocks to diurnal variations of barometric pressure
36
Relation of distribution of shocks to phases of moon