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Earthquakes
Historic Earthquakes of Arkansas
Historic Accounts from the 1811-1812 Earthquakes The following is an excerpt from “The New Madrid Earthquake” by Myron Fuller: “The evening of December 15, 1811, the New Madrid area was clear and quiet, with no unusual conditions which could be regarded as portending the catastrophe soon to take place. A little after 2 o’clock in the morning of December 16, the inhabitants of the region were suddenly awakened by the groaning, creaking, and cracking of the timbers of the houses and cabins in which they were sleeping, by the rattle of furniture thrown down, and by the crash of falling chimneys. In fear and trembling they hurriedly groped their way from their houses to escape the falling debris, and remained shivering in the winter air until morning, the repeated shocks at intervals during the night keeping them from returning to their weakened of tottering dwellings. Daylight brought little improvement to their situation, for early in the morning another shock, preceded by a low rumbling and fully as severe as the first, was experienced. The ground rose and fell as earth waves, like a long, low swell of the sea, passes across its surface, tilting the trees until their branches interlocked and opened the soil in deep cracks as the surface was bent. Landslides swept down the steeper bluffs and hillsides: considerable areas were uplifted, and still larger areas sunk and became covered with water emerging from below through fissures or little “craterlets” or accumulating from the obstruction of the surface drainage. On the Mississippi great waves were created, which overwhelmed many boats and washed others high on the shore, the return current breaking off thousands of trees and carrying them out into the river. High banks caved and were precipitated into the river, sand bars and points of islands gave way, and whole islands disappeared |
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On December 16, 1811 residents living in the region near New Madrid, Missouri were jolted awake at 2:15 AM by a major earthquake. Cabins collapsed, people were frightened, and the land surface was severely changed by liquefaction. The shaking was felt as far away as New England and Canada. Scientists estimate that this event measured over a M7.0 (Johnston and Schweig, 1996). This marked the first of a series of powerful earthquakes that spanned a three-month period. Hundreds of aftershocks were reported for over a year.