New Madrid Earthquake
Based
on maps in W. Atkinson, 1989, The Next New Madrid Earthquake, Southern Illinois University Press
Hartford
is about 155 miles from New Madrid, MO, as the crow flies. Near enough to be
shaken hard in 1811 and 1812 (magnitude 5 or 6 on the map above). I’m certain
these earthquakes and aftershocks were frightening to our ancestors, and
probably resulted in injury and property damage.
The
three earthquakes occurred in 1811 and 1812 near New Madrid, MO. They are 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.
The
probability for an earthquake of magnitude 6.0 or greater is significant in the
near future, with a 50% chance by the year 2000 and a 90% chance by the year
2040. A quake with a magnitude equal to that of the 1811- 1812 quakes could
result in great loss of life and property damage in the billions of dollars.
Scientists believe we could be overdue for a large earthquake and through
research and public awareness may be able to prevent such losses.
EYEWITNESS ACCOUNTS OF THE NEW MADRID
EARTHQUAKE
(1) The
following letter was found in a book entitled, "Lorenzo Dow's
Journal," Published by Joshua Martin, printed by John B. Wolff, 1849, on
pages 344 - 346. This was written by Eliza Bryan, a resident of New Madrid, MO.
New Madrid, Territory of
Missouri, March 22, 1816
Dear Sir,
In compliance with your request, I will now give you a history, as full in
detail as the limits of the letter will permit, of the late awful visitation of
Providence in this place and vicinity.
On the 16th of December, 1811, about two
o'clock, A.M., we were visited by a violent shock of an earthquake, accompanied
by a very awful noise resembling loud but distant thunder, but more hoarse and
vibrating, which was followed in a few minutes by the complete saturation of
the atmosphere, with sulphurious vapor, causing total darkness. The screams of
the affrighted inhabitants running to and fro, not knowing where to go, or what
to do - the cries of the fowls and beasts of every species - the cracking of
trees falling, and the roaring of the Mississippi - the current of which was
retrogade for a few minutes, owing as is supposed, to an irruption in its bed
-- formed a scene truly horrible.
From that time until about sunrise, a
number of lighter shocks occurred; at which time one still more violent than
the first took place, with the same accompaniments as the first, and the terror
which had been excited in everyone, and indeed in all animal nature, was now,
if possible doubled. The inhabitants fled in every direction to the country,
supposing (if it can be admitted that their minds can be exercised at all) that
there was less danger at a distance from, than near to the river. In one
person, a female, the alarm was so great that she fainted, and could not be
recovered.
There were several shocks of a day, but
lighter than those already mentioned until the 23d of January, 1812, when one
occurred as violent as the severest of the former ones, accompanied by the same
phenomena as the former. From this time until the 4th of February the earth was
in continual agitation, visibly waving as a gentle sea. On that day there was
another shock, nearly as hard as the proceeding ones. Next day four such, and
on the 7th about 4 o'clock A.M., a concussion took place so much more violent
than those that had proceeded it, that it was dominated the hard shock. The
awful darkness of the atmosphere, which was formerly saturated with sulphurious
vapor, and the violence of the tempestuous thundering noise that accompanied
it, together with all of the other phenomena mentioned as attending the former
ones, formed a scene, the description of which would require the most sublimely
fanciful imagination.
At first the Mississippi seemed to recede
from its banks, and its waters gathering up like a mountain, leaving for the
moment many boats, which were here on their way to New Orleans, on bare sand,
in which time the poor sailors made their escape from them. It then rising
fifteen to twenty feet perpendicularly, and expanding, as it were, at the same
moment, the banks were overflowed with the retrogade current, rapid as a
torrent - the boats which before had been left on the sand were now torn from
their moorings, and suddenly driven up a little creek, at the mouth of which
they laid, to the distance in some instances, of nearly a quarter of a mile.
The river falling immediately, as rapid as it had risen, receded in its banks
again with such violence, that it took with it whole groves of young
cotton-wood trees, which ledged its borders. They were broken off which such
regularity, in some instances, that persons who had not witnessed the fact,
would be difficultly persuaded, that is has not been the work of art. A great
many fish were left on the banks, being unable to keep pace with the water. The
river was literally covered with the wrecks of boats, and 'tis said that one
was wrecked in which there was a lady and six children, all of whom were lost.
In all the hard shocks mentioned, the
earth was horribly torn to pieces - the surface of hundreds of acres, was, from
time to time, covered over, in various depths, by the sand which issued from
the fissures, which were made in great numbers all over this country, some of
which closed up immediately after they had vomited forth their sand and water,
which it must be remarked, was the matter generally thrown up. In some places,
however, there was a substance somewhat resembling coal, or impure stone coal,
thrown up with the sand. It is impossible to say what the depths of the
fissures or irregular breaks were; we have reason to believe that some of them
are very deep.
The site of this town was evidently
settled down at least fifteen feet, and not more than a half a mile below the
town there does not appear to be any alteration on the bank of the river, but
back from the river a small distance, the numerous large ponds or lakes, as
they are called, which covered a great part of the country were nearly dried
up. The beds of some of them are elevated above their former banks several
feet, producing an alteration of ten, fifteen to twenty feet, from their
original state. And lately it has been discovered that a lake was formed on the
opposite side of the Mississippi, in the Indian country, upwards of one hundred
miles in length, and from one to six miles in width, of the depth of ten to
fifty feet. It has communication with the river at both ends, and it is
conjectured that it will not be many years before the principal part, if not
the whole of the Mississippi, will pass that way.
We were constrained by the fear of our
houses falling to live twelve or eighteen months, after the first shocks, in
little light camps made of boards; but we gradually became callous, and
returned to our houses again. Most of those who fled from the country in the
time of the hard shocks have since returned home. We have, since the
commencement in 1811, and still continue to feel, slight shocks occasionally.
It is seldom indeed that we are more than a week without feeling one, and
sometimes three of four in a day. There were two this winter past much harder
than we had felt them for two years before; but since then they appear to be
lighter than they have ever been, and we begin to hope that ere long they will
entirely cease.
I have now, sir, finished my promised
description of the earthquake - imperfect it is true, but just as it occurred
to my memory; many of, and most of the truly awful scenes, having occurred
three or four years ago. They of course are not related with that precision
which would entitle it to the character of a full and accurate picture. But
such as it is, it is given with pleasure - in the full confidence that it is
given to a friend. And now, sir, wishing you all good, I must bid you adieu.
Your humble servant,
Eliza Bryan
There is one circumstance which I think
worthy of remark. This country was formerly subject to very hard thunder; but
for more than twelve months before the commencement of the earthquake there was
none at all, and but very little since, a great part of which resembles
subterraneous thunder. The shocks still continue, but are growing more light,
and less frequent. -E.B
(2) The
following was written by John Bradbury on December 15, 1811:
On December 15, 1811, John Bradbury, a
Scottish naturalist, was headed down the Mississippi River with a party of
boatmen. They were tied up for the night just upstream from the Chicksaw Bluffs
(the future Memphis) and Bradbury was fast asleep when "a most tremendous
noise" panicked the group. "All nature seemed running into
chaos," he later wrote, "as wild fowl fled, trees snapped and river
banks tumbled into the water." Bradbury recorded twenty-seven shocks.
Called the New Madrid Earthquake, largely because New Madrid
(Missouri) was the closest settlement, the quake actually began along the Saint
Francis River in Arkansas some sixty-five miles southwest of New Madrid.
Bradbury was closer to the epicenter than the residents of the town of New
Madrid who were awakened by shaking houses and falling chimneys.
After the first December rumbling, jolts continued. One Louisville
observer recorded 1,874 separate quakes between December and March. During this
time the epicenter moved closer to New Madrid, and on February 7 the residents
deserted what once had bid fair to become the metropolis of the middle
Mississippi River. The houses had fallen, and possibly even the land on which
the town stood had sunk by March.
Because so few persons were in the area of greatest damage and
most of those who were there were illiterate, only a few firsthand account
provide detailed information. Stories and legends grew apace, however, for the
earthquake was felt all over North America, and reinforced the evangelical
religious notion that the end of the world was at hand. Henry Schoolcraft, who
took to poetry to record the quake wrote: "the rivers they boiled like a
pot over coals, And mortals fell prostrate, and prayed for their souls."
Actually, the 1811-1812 earthquake was merely a continuation in a
series which included rumblings in 1699, 1776, 1779, 1792, 1795, and 1804.
These predecessor quakes were quite possibly even stronger; and some of the
changes later credited to the New Madrid Quake probably came earlier. In time,
the quake was credited with causing the Mississippi River to flow backward,
with creating the "Sunk Lands" in the Saint Francis River Valley, in
raising Crowley's Ridge, and creating Reelfoot Lake in Tennessee.
If another quake of the magnitude of the New Madrid Quake of 1811
should hit the region, it would be the worst natural disaster in American
history. Especially vulnerable are buildings of brick and concrete. Almost all
of downtown Memphis would fall. The highways and interstate systems would be
shattered and bridges destroyed. Massive gas line ruptures would threaten life
and property. If the Mississippi River were already near flood stage, the
destruction of levees could result in the flooding of perhaps a quarter of the
state (of Arkansas). Overall the loss of life could run into the hundreds of
thousands.
Despite its prominence as one of the great recorded natural events
in American history, the New Madrid Earthquake had very little impact on the
history of the region. Although minor tremors were felt off and on, and some
timid folks, especially in the 1890's decided to move elsewhere, the earthquake
remained irrelevant to life until Iben Browning, a business consultant with
some scientific pretensions, announced that another quake was due on December
3, 1990.
Despite numerous scientific attacks on Browning's methodology, the
public became truly alarmed. Local communities took disaster relief seriously
and sales of earthquake policies soared. Many residents stockpiled water,
flashlight batteries, plastic bags, and toilet paper. Timid folk even left the
state (of Arkansas). Days prior to the supposed event, every motel room near
New Madrid was taken up by news persons ready to cover the projected disaster.
December 3, 1990, passed with nary a tremor and the quake became
the Great Non-Event of 1990. Nevertheless, the publicity did have a positive
effect as few area residents could claim to be unaware of eastern Arkansas'
natural heritage.
Michael Bruce Dougan, Arkansas
Odyssey: The Saga of Arkansas from Prehistoric Times to Present (c) 1994 Rose
Publishing Company, Inc., Little Rock, Arkansas.
(3) This following account of the New Madrid
Earthquake was recorded by George Heinrich Crist, residing at the time in the
north-central Kentucky county of Nelson, near the present location of
Louisville. It was submitted by Floyd Creasey - 4th tier great-grandchild to
author, now a Texas resident.
16 December 1811
"There was a great shaking of the
earth this morning. Tables and chairs turned over and knocked around - all of
us knocked out of bed. The roar I thught would leave us deaf if we lived. It
was not a storm. when you could hear, all you cold hear was screams from people
and animals. It was the worst thing that I have ever wittnesed. It was still
dark and you could not see nothng. I thought the shaking and the loud roaring
sound would never stop. You could not hold onto nothing neither man or woman
was strong enough - the shaking would knock you lose like knocking hicror nuts
out of a tree. I don't know how we lived through it. None of us was killed - we
was all banged up and some of us knocked out for awile and blood was every
where. When it got day break you could see the damage done all around. We still
had our home it was some damage. Some people that the home was not built to
strong did not. We will have to hunt our animals. Every body is scared to
death. we still do not know if anybody was killed. I made my mind to one thing.
If this earth quake or what ever it was did not happen in the Territory of
Indiana then me and my family is moving to Pigeon Roost as soon as I can get
things together.”
23 January 1812
"What are we gonna do? You cannot
fight it cause you do not know how. It is not something that you can see. In a
storm you can see the sky and it shows dark clouds and you know that you might
get strong winds but this you can not see anything but a house that just lays
in a pile on the ground - not scattered around and trees that just falls over
with the roots still on it. The earth quake or what ever it is come again
today. It was as bad or worse than the one in December. We lost our Amandy Jane
in this one - a log fell on her. We will bury her upon the hill under a clump
of trees where Besys Ma and Pa is buried. A lot of people thinks that the devil
has come here. Some thinks that this is the beginning of the world coming to a
end.”
8 Febuary 1812
"If we do not get away from here the
ground is going to eat us alive. We had another one of them earth quakes
yesterdy and today the ground still shakes at times. We are all about to go
crazy - from pain and fright. We can not do anything until we can find our
animals or get some more. We have not found enough to pull he wagons.”
20 March 1812
"I do not know if our minds have got
bad or what. But everybody says it. I swear you can still feel the ground move
and shake some. We still have not found enough animals to pull the wagons and
you can not find any to buy or trade.”
14 April 1813
"We lived to make it to Pigeon Roost.
We did not lose any lives but we had aplenty troubles. As much as I love my
place in Kentucy - I never want to go back. From December to April no man -
woman or animal if they could talk would dare to believe what we lived through.
From what people say it was not that bad here - They felt the ground move and
shake but it did not destroy cabins and trees like it did in Kentucky. I guess
that things was as bad here but at least they could see the enemy. on 3
September 1812 the Shawnees that William thought was friendly went crazy and
them savages killed twenty four people...."
_______________________________________________________________________
CONGRESSIONAL REPORT
(Transactions of the
Literary and Philosophical Society of NY, vol. 1, pp. 281-307)
Samuel L.
Mitchill, Representative in Congress
Transcription
and notes, Susan E. Hough, U.S. Geological Survey, Pasadena (May, 2000).
*Full title: A detailed narrative of the
earthquakes which occurred on the 16th day of December, 1811, and agitated the
parts of North America that lie between the Atlantic Ocean and Louisiana; and
also a particular account of the other quakings of the earth occasionally felt
from that time to the 23d and 30th of January, and the 7th and 16th of
February, 1812, and subsequently to the 18th of December, 1813, and which shook
the country from Detroit and the Lakes to New-Orleans and the Gulf of Mexico.
Compiled chiefly at Washington, in the District of Columbia.
[Read before the Society on the 14th of April, and
the 12th of May, 1814]
“The
beautiful comet which travelled through the northern celestial hemisphere
during 1811, had offered itself plainly to view until the approach of the
following year. Its elements, as calculated by Nathaniel Bowditch, Esq. and his
learned associates, have already been placed before the public eye. The
tremendous storm from the northeast, near the end of December, 1811, began to
leeward, near Cape Hatteras, and swept the American coast to the banks of
Newfoundland, doing great damage to navigation, and exhibiting some curious
facts in the history of the atmosphere. The particulars of this furious and
memorable tempest have been collected by myself; and are in readiness to be
offered to the society at the first convenient time.
My present
intention is to read to you the information I have gathered on another
occurrence of those portentous days. I mean the phenomena of the earthquakes,
which terrified the country about the same period, and which continued a long
time afterwards.
On the
morning of Monday, the 16th of December, 1811, several shocks of earthquakes
were felt at the city of Washington. The first of these happened at three
o'clock; and in some houses was considerable enough to shake the doors and
windows, and wake persons from their sleep. There were successive tremors.
Tassels of curtains were seen to move; and pitchers of washing-stands were
heard to rattle upon their basins. The sound was very distinguishable, and was
believed by many to pass from southwest to northeast. The alarm was so great in
some families, that searches were made from room to room, to discover the
robbers who were imagined to have broken into the houses. A second
shock, though lighter, was experienced about six o'clock, and a third about
eight.
A gentleman
standing in his chamber at his desk and writing, in the third story of a brick
house, upon the Capitol Hill, suddenly perceived his body to be in motion,
vibrating backward and forward, and producing dizziness. Not suspecting the
moment that the uncomfortable sensation was caused by an earthquake, he
examined his desk to know whether it stood firm. Finding that it did, he
dropped his pen; and turning his eyes upward, discerned that the looking-glass,
and other things hanging near him, were in a similar motion.
Another
person was near a table placed beneath a mirror. Feeling a giddiness come upon
him, he seized the table for support. The general agitation of the chamber and
house ceased in about a minute; but the looking-glass, which was suspended in
the usual manner, continued to swing for some seconds longer. These
observations, made by Messrs. Bigelow and Mosely, may serve as specimens of a
multitude of phenomena of those kinds.
The
atmosphere seemed to forebode some unusual occurrence. One of my most correct
and respectable friends, declared in conversation, and stated to me in writing,
that he made an observation of the sky about ten o'clock that night. It was
quite calm. There was not a breath of wind stirring. The air was perfectly
clear and free from clouds. Nevertheless, it was uncommonly dark, and the stars
which appeared in every part through the gloom, were lurid and dim, and afforded
little light.
In Richmond
the signs of an earthquake were witnessed by many persons. At three o'clock on
the same morning, (the 16th of December,) there were said to be three
successive shocks; another about six; and a third about eight. Several people
were impressed with a belief that thieves had entered their dwellings; and in
one of the most elevated mansions, the bells were set a ringing in both the
upper and lower rooms. The noise and concussion were supposed by some to
proceed from east to west.
It was
stated at Norfolk that two very distinct shocks were felt in that town and in
Portsmouth; to wit, at three and eight o'clock in the morning of the 16th. Some
clocks were reported to have stopped; the doors rattled; and articles hanging
from the ceilings of shops and houses, swung to and fro, although a perfect
calm prevailed.
At Raleigh
(N.C.) several slight earthquakes were felt on the morning of the 16th
December. The first happened between two and three o'clock, and was distinctly
perceived by all who were awake at the time. Two others were reported to have
occurred between that time and seven o'clock, but were not plainly observed,
except by some members of the legislature, who were in the state-house, and
were considerably alarmed at the shaking of the building.
From
Georgetown, (S.C.) it was told, that several shocks had been experienced
between the hours of three and eight, on the morning of the 16th. The
inhabitants were much alarmed. The shocks were so considerable, that the
parade-ground of the fort was said to have settled from one to two inches below
its former level. A tub of water, standing upon a table in the barracks, was
reported to have been overset by the jarring of the building. Another severe
shock was felt two days afterwards, at noon.
At Columbia,
(S.C.) the inhabitants were alarmed by repeated shocks. The first took place at
half after two in the morning of Monday, which was represented as shaking the
houses as if rocked by the waves of the sea. It was followed, after the
cessation of a minute, by three slighter ones. At eight o'clock two others took
place, and at ten, some slight ones. The South Carolina college appeared to
rock from its foundation, and a part of its plaster fell; which so alarmed the
students, that they left the chambers without their clothes. It seemed as if
all the buildings would be leveled. The dogs barked; fowls made a racket; and
many persons ran about with lights, not knowing where to go, so great was their
terror. During the first agitation, it was observed, that the air felt as if
impregnated with a vapour, which lasted for some time.
On Tuesday,
at a quarter after twelve, another smart shock was experienced. At Laurens and
Newbury, in the interior districts, it was so violent as to crack and start
several chimnies.
At
Charleston (S.C.) the sensation was of considerable strength. One account
stated; that on the morning of the 16th, at a few minutes before three o'clock,
a severe shock of an earthquake was felt. Its duration conjectured to have been
between two and three minutes. For an hour previous, though the air was
perfectly calm, and several stars visible, there was, at intervals of about
five minutes, a rumbling noise like that of distant thunder; which increased in
violence of sound just before the shock was felt. The vibrations of St.
Philip's steeple caused the clock bell to ring about ten seconds. Two other
shocks were felt afterwards, one a little before eight, and the other about a
quarter of an hour after. Both these were slighter and shorter than the first.
Many of the family clocks were stopped by the concussions. In many wells the
water was considerably agitated. From another source it was related that
Charleston was shaken by an earthquake severely, at the time before specified.
This was preceded by a noise resembling the blowing of a smith's bellows. The
agitation of the earth was such that the bells in the church steeples rang to a
degree indicative of an alarm for fire. The houses were so much moved that many
persons were induced to rise from their beds. The clocks generally stopped.
Another slight shock was experienced about fifteen minutes after; and yet
another at eight o'clock. This last one produced a considerable rattling among
glass, china, and other furniture. A looking-glass hanging against a west wall
was observed to vibrate two or three inches from north to south.
The
ingenious writer of the meteorological observations for Charleston during
December, 1811, has noticed these occurrences in a manner too interesting to be
omitted. According to his remarks, there were seven shocks during the month,
having a vibratory motion from east to west. In many persons the motion
produced nausea. All the shocks, except the last, were preceded by noises
resembling the rattling of a carriage over a pavement. There had been less
thunder during the preceding season than usual. The days of thunder amount
annually to about sixty; but this year there were no more than thirty-eight.
The beautiful comet was visible in the northwest during the whole month.
The
inhabitants of Savannah were sensible of four earthquakes. The first was on the
morning of the 16th December, between two and three o'clock. It was preceded by
a flash of light, and a rattling noise, resembling that of a carriage passing
over a paved road. It lasted about a minute. A second soon succeeded, but its
duration was shorter. A third happened about eight o'clock; and a fourth about
noon on the 17th. Persons who experienced the hardest shock, were made to
totter, as if on shipboard. Its course was believed to be from southwest to
northeast.
It was
observed, by Dr. Macbride of Pineville, (S.C.) that the earthquake terrified
the inhabitants exceedingly. It was accompanied by several appearances that
countenances the theory of this phenomenon, which brings in the agency of the
electric fluid. 1. The infrequency or absence of thunder storms; that is, they
were much less frequent this year than usual, especially in the autumn. 2.
Immediately before the earthquake, a red appearance of the clouds, which had
much darkened the water for twenty-four hours immediately before the shock; and
3. The loudness of the thunder, and the number of the peals within twenty-four
hours after the first shock, and but a few hours before the last, which was
felt before he wrote. Such thunder was very unusual at that season.
At Natchez,
the occurrences, as related by a careful observer, were as follow: Four shocks
were felt on the morning of the 16th. The principal one was at tem minutes
after two, A.M. There was no noise, except in a few situations. Several clocks
were stopped. Articles, in some instances, fell from shelves. Plastered walls
were sometimes cracked. The Mississippi was agitated as if the banks were
falling in. The trees in the forests waved their tops. Many houses were shaken
considerably. And things suspended on nails or pins swung backwards and
forwards.
Information
was forwarded from Tennessee, that the earth quaked so violently, as to throw
down chimnies, in some places. Eighteen or twenty acres of land, adjacent to
Piney river, suddenly fell down, and sunk so low, that the tops of the trees
were on a level with the surrounding earth. Four other shocks were experienced
on the 17th, and one or more continued daily until the 30th.
At
Knoxville, the quaking of the earth on the 16th was represented to have lasted
more than three minutes. The rattling of the windows and furniture of the
houses were such as to awaken almost every family. This was about two in the
morning. It was followed, in half an hour, by another, which continued half a
minute. Between sunrise and breakfast, three others were felt, of only a few
seconds in duration. At the end of the first and longest shock, there were, in
a direction due north, two flashes of light, at the interval of about a minute,
very much like distant lightning.
At Columbia,
in Tennessee, between two and three o'clock on the morning of the 16th
December, the inhabitants were suddenly alarmed by a violent agitation in the
earth. It was accompanied by a peculiar sound, proceeding from southwest to
northeast. Immediately after the shock had ceased, a very large volume of
something like smoke was discovered to rise in the quarter whence the sound
appeared to come; and pursuing nearly the same course, finally settled in the
north, exhibiting the appearance of a black cloud. The shock was computed to
have continued from ten to fifteen minutes.
At
Louisville, (Ken.) near the falls of the Ohio, on Monday morning about three
o'clock, a violent shock of an earthquake was felt. It was judged to have
continued about three minutes. This was followed by three or four others of
less violence. A number of houses suffered considerable damage; the chimnies
having been so much cracked as to require repairs by the mason. On the evening
previous to the shock, there was a gentle rain, such as we have in April; and
the night was rather close and dark; but at the termination of the first shock,
it was light enough to enable a pin to be seen.
By
information from Jeffersonville, in the Indiana Territory, on the opposite side
of the Ohio, it was understood that the shocks were reiterated, and the writer
of the account I am now copying, declares that the table was in motion from the
earthquake, while he was employing his pen to describe the phenomena. The day preceding
was extremely dark and gloomy there, and warmth and smokiness distinguished the
weather for some time after.
At
Vincennes, the earthquake occurred about two o'clock on the morning of the 16th
December. Other shocks of less violence followed it for several days. It was so
severe that the inhabitants were greatly concerned for the safety of their
houses.
At the Red Banks, one hundred and fifty miles below Louisville, it was stated in a letter
to my friend, the hon. Anthony New, dated January 4, 1812, "that there had
been from twenty to thirty shocks of earthquakes at that place. They begun on
the morning of December 16, at about half after two o'clock. The first one, and
another at sunrise the same morning, were most violent indeed. We had to flee
from our houses. Several chimnies were thrown down, and many others so wrecked
and cracked as to be very dangerous. The noise which accompanied the several
shocks is said to have come from the west."
The town of
St. Louis, in Louisiana, experienced a full proportion of the commotion. Mr.
Riddick, being at St. Louis, near the Mississippi, observed to me, that the
shocks were preceded by a remarkable calm. The atmosphere was of a dingy and
lurid aspect, and gleams and flashes of light were frequently visible around
the horizon, in different directions, generally ascending from the earth.
Sometimes sounds were heard, like wind rustling through the trees, but not
resembling thunder. The first
earthquake was felt about a quarter of an hour after two in the morning of the
16th. It roused persons from their sleep, by the clatter of windows, doors, and
furniture, in tremulous motion. There was a rumbling distant noise, resembling
a number of carriages passing over a pavement. In a few seconds the motions and
noises had considerably increased. The sky was obscured by a thick and hazy
fog, without a breath of wind. The weather was moderate, with the mercury about
eight degrees above the freezing point. At forty-seven minutes after two, a
second shock was felt. At thirty-four minutes after three, a third came; which
was as tremulous as the first, but not followed by so much noise. A little
after daylight, there was a fourth; at eight, a fifth; and at half past eleven,
a sixth; several persons felt, or imagined, others. They were of different
lengths, from two minutes to a few seconds. No lives were lost; some chimnies
were thrown down; and a few stone houses split. The morning was observed to be
very hazy, and unusually warm for the season. The houses and fences seemed to be
covered with a white frost; but on examination, this appearance was illusive. A
vapour hovered over every thing, and shrouded the morning in awful gloom.
At Lebanon,
in Ohio, the alarm was so great, that many persons forsook their houses. The
vibration of the shocks seemed to be from east to west.
At
Circleville on Monday morning between one and two o'clock, many of the
inhabitants were considerably alarmed by a sudden and violent trembling of
their houses, which was supposed to have proceeded from an earthquake. Many
persons, affrighted, leaped out of bed. Another was felt at eight; but there
was no explosion.
A letter
from Kentucky to my friend, the hon. John Talliaferro, informed him that on the
night between the 15th and 16th December, 1811, the shock of an earthquake was
sensibly and alarmingly felt. The shakings continued, in greater or less
degrees, through night and day, up to the 30th of the same month, when a more
severe shock than any preceding one occurred. It overturned almost every brick
or stone chimney in Henderson county, or the region thereof, situated on Green
river, down to its confluence with the Ohio.
The editor
of the Western Spy, a newspaper printed at Cincinnati, in Ohio, after writing
an intelligent account of the phenomena of the earthquake, gave a valuable
summary from the gazettes of the occurrences in other places along the western
waters.
By the
intelligence from Detroit, from Judge James Witherall, it appears that Michigan
was agitated by the same subterranean power. A small shock was felt at Detroit
on the 17th December. The atmosphere was serene, but cold. Thirty miles
northwest of that village is a lake about nine miles in circumference, of an
oval form, and which is supposed to have communication under ground with Lake
Sinclair. In the centre of this lake there is an island of perhaps three miles
in circumference, inhabited only by Indians. They relate, that on the said 17th
December the waters of the lake appeared to tremble, and boil like a great pot
over a hot fire; and immediately a vast number of large tortoises rose to the
surface, and swam rapidly to the shore, where they were taken for food. The
testimony of Colonel Samuel Hammong, in a letter of the 6th February, 1812,
which I received from him, was to the following effect. He confined himself
strictly to what he know from personal observation. The first shock he
witnessed was on the 15/16th of December last. He was then at Herculaneum in
Louisiana. A few seconds before the motion was felt, he and others heard a
considerable roaring or rumbling noise, resembling a blaze of fire acted upon
by wind. The motion of the frame of the house on which he stood was tremulous.
It began instantly after to rock pretty violently. This continued, as he
thought, about ten to twelve minutes. The vibrations of the chimney were,
perhaps, about three or four inches each way, and were in the direction of
southeast and northwest nearly. The noise which preceded the shock was from the
northwest. Its commencement was about two o'clock in the morning. One hour
after there was a second, which was light, and of very short duration. No
houses or chimnies were thrown down by either of those. The motion was very
much like the first, but of short duration. This injured several brick and
stone chimneys. Its duration between one and a half and two and a half minutes.
About sunrise the same morning there was a fourth shock. The vibrations of the
chimneys at twenty-five feet from the ground, were at least four inches each
way. The direction was the same as the first. The motion of the earth was very
perceptible. Cradles rocked, and the church bells rang. Several chimnies were
cracked to their bases, and some were broken off as low as the stem or funnel.
In this last shock, the water in the river Mississippi was thrown into
commotion, bubbling like boiling water; and, in a few minutes, the whole
atmosphere was filled with smoke or fog, so that a boat could not be seen
within twenty paces from the water's edge; and the houses were so shrouded as
not to be seen fifty feet; this smoke continued all the forepart of that day.
In passing
along upon his journey, he found the effects had been pretty uniform, and their
occurrence and duration nearly the same, as far as Carthage, in the state of
Tennessee. There were one or more shocks every twenty-four hours, from the
first-mentioned one, until the night of January 1, 1812. Then, at about half
after three in the morning, being at Carthage, he felt a severer shock. It
threw bricks from a chimney which had been previously broken by the first
shock; he found, on inquiry, that the motion was considerably greatest near the
large water courses. The court-house at Carthage is a large brick edifice, and
was cracked to its foundation, and considerably damaged. Several chimnies had been
cast down, by the shock of the 16th of December. Everywhere it was stated to
him by those who witnessed the motions, that they were from the south of west,
to the opposite point, or vice versa. In the county of Christian, (Kentucky,)
af fine and fresh spring was observe to run very muddy for several hours. On
examining it, after the feculence had settled, he found it to be so strongly
impregnated with sulphur; so much so that it was spoiled for domestic uses;
indeed it had been converted to one of the strongest brimstone springs he ever
met with.
But
considerable as these operations were, they were surpassed by others which took
place along the river Mississippi; indeed, the strata underlying the bed of
this stream appear to have been the principal seat of the commotion or, at
least, the place where it was most considerable. The phenomena were described
in the most fearful and alarming strains by several writers. Much exaggeration
was interwoven with some of the narratives. Some, indeed, were tinctured with
fable and burlesque. Among the various recitals it became exceedingly difficult
to find out the true, or even the most probable, account. Five or six
witnesses, who seem to have been wholly unknown to each other, agree in so many
particulars, that their united evidence may be considered to approach as near
to the truth as we can expect to arrive.
First, the
writer of a letter from the Chickasaw Bluffs, dated December 21st, to his
correspondent in Cincinnati, stated many particulars from his personal observation.
The first shock happened at thirty minutes after two, on the morning of the
16th, and was followed by many more within a few days. The boat was acted upon
by the water in such a manner as to induce a belief that she had grounded; but
upon sounding, he could find no bottom. The current, at the place where he was
at the time of the occurrence, (eighty-seven miles below the mouth of the
Ohio,) acquired three times its former velocity, and the river rose six feet
upon its former level; the trunks of trees, bedded in the bottom, suddenly rose
in great numbers to the surface; the banks tumbled down at an alarming rate;
and the land was rent by cracks and fissures.
Secondly, a
writer from New Madrid, in a communication to a friend in Lexington, dated 16th
December, describes a tremendous noise as rousing the family from their sleep,
rocking the house, throwing down the chimney, and terrifying them so, that they
passed the remainder of the morning, from two o'clock, when the shock was felt,
in the open air. During the time of the shock, the heavens were very clear and
serene; there being not a breath of air stirring; but in five minutes it became
very dark; and a vapour which seemed to impregnate the atmosphere, had a
disagreeable smell, and produced a difficulty of breathing. This darkness
continued until nearly the break of day. During its continuance there were six
more shocks. About half after six it cleared up. However, the danger was
increased by another shock, which racked the houses violently, and threw down
the chimneys. The darkness returned, and it was accompanied by loud noises, and
a bounding motion up and down. Many persons were so alarmed that they formed
encampments in the fields. The shocks were repeated from time to time, until
the 28th, and then amounted to sixty-seven.
Accounts
from Little Prairie stated that ponds had been converted to upland, and dry
land to lakes; that the banks of the river had sunk and fallen in to great
extent; that cracks had been formed in the earth; that water had gushed out;
and that there was a strange and chaotic mixture of the elements. In some
places, sand, mud, water, and stone-coal were reported to have been thrown up
thirty yards high.
Thirdly; a
more full and circumstantial history of those eruptions and commotions was
drawn up by Mr. William Leigh Pierce, who, at the time of their occurrence, was
passing down the Mississippi in a boat.
After having
described the occurrences of the 16th, 17th, and 18th, up to the 19th, he wrote
from the Big Prairie, under date of December 25th, to his acquaintance in
New-York, a very circumstantial account, which was published in the journals of
the time. His narrative abounds with facts showing the irresistible and ruinous
effects of the commotion, which he thinks might have been considered as
protracted to the surprising length of one hundred and seventy-eight hours.
Fourthly; to
these I subjoin another respectable communication, from Mr. Joseph Ficklin of
Russellville, (Ken.) who thus describes the earthquakes, in a letter dated
February 5, 1812: "The shocks continue. The accounts that you will see in
the Nashville and Lexington papers may be confided in. I have conversed with
several persons from New Madrid, all of whom confirm the above. The bottom of
the Mississippi river, two under miles west of this place, was cracked in some
places fifteen feet in width, and cast up warm water sufficient to inundate the
settlement from one to two feet. In this situation, the poor inhabitants sought
for the highest ground, where some remained for seventeen days, looking for the
earth to swallow them up. Indians who were two hundred and fifty miles beyond
the Mississippi, and about five hundred miles west of this place, relate sights
of horror, in the tumbling down of rocks, the fall of trees, and the lights of
fire; which prove to my satisfaction that the cause of this alarm lies in the
mountains or hills which are between the head of the Arkansas river, and the
waters of the Missouri, not more than six hundred miles from this place, a little
south of west. The shocks are much more severe one hundred and fifty miles west
of this than they are here. Fortunately, there are no brick or stone houses
near the seat of danger to destroy the people. The Indians cannot have suffered
much in their tends and bark houses. But the United States will suffer in the
sales of their public lands west of the Mississippi for an age. At least the
present generation must be buried before the spirit of wandering, in that
direction, revives; and may it not be an advantage that some power exists to
fix a boundary for our fellow citizens; for my own part, I am pleased in
viewing the benefits which my country will derive from this great shock. We had
one last night."
Fifthly:
there is further information contained in a letter from a gentlemen at the
mouth of the Cumberland river to his friend in Woodford county, Kentucky, dated
February 10, 1812: it was published in the newspapers of that state, and
corroborates substantially the recitals of the other witnesses.
Sixthly;
Daniel Bedinger, Esq. who was passing down the Mississippi, in a boat, at the
very time, was a witness of the occurrences, near him; and he described them in
his journal, dated at New-Orleans, January 15, 1812: He bears witness of the
noises that attended the shocks; the froth that formed on the surface of the
river from the bursting of air bubbles; and of the elevation of innumerable
logs and trees from the bottom of the Mississippi. Cracks and rents in the
earth and the falling of banks were frequent and terrible.
The
earthquakes were not felt quite so strongly at or below New Orleans.
In all these
shakings of the ground it is particularly to be observed, that there were but
slight indications of them at Baltimore, or in any place to the eastward or
northward. The evidence from Philadelphia and New York was of a dubious
character; though some persons at the latter place, and at Newark, assured me
they felt several small concussions. It seemed, however, as if the Maryland
side of the Potomac and the ridge of the Alleghany, might almost be deemed the
limits of their extension; the more considerable proofs of their power having
been to the westward of the latter, and to the southward of the former, of
those boundaries.
On the 23d
of January, the earthquakes were renewed, to greater extent than before, and in
some places with increased violence.
One was felt
at Washington, about nine A. M., and the witnesses of the concussion were very
numerous. The phenomena very much resembled that of the 16th of December. A few
recitals will answer all the purposes of information.
At
Nottingham, in Maryland, the shock was alleged to have happened twenty minutes
after nine, and to have lasted a minute. The writer of the account was sitting
in a room with two other persons, occupied in reading, when it was asked by one
of them what made the chamber shake so? This called the attention of them all
to the movement, which they described as having the same effects as the rolling
of a vessel on an agitated sea.
The
inhabitants of Richmond (Va.) felt it severely at half after none. Like the
former, it was more sensible on Shockoe and Richmond hills, than in the lower
parts of the city. In some instances, books were nearly thrown from their
shelves, and many persons at breakfast perceptibly left the tables.
At
Cashockton, in the state of Ohio, on the morning of the 23d of January, at
Georgetown, Louisville, Chilicothe, Paris, Washington, and Frankfort, the
shocks excited a great share of attention.
At
Charleston, (S.C.) on the same morning, to wit, of the 23d of January, at
fifteen minutes after nine o'clock, the vibratory shock on an earthquake was
felt more severely than on the former occasions. This was
said to have been more extensive than the preceding ones, inasmuch as the
newspapers stated that it was felt at New York.
Another was
experienced in Kentucky, on the 30th of January. It was described in a letter
from Louisville to Stephen Ormsby, Esq. as having proceeded from the west,
about the same time of night with that of December 29. It was not near so
violent. The relater was waked from sleep by a noise like that of a carriage,
which was followed by a shake. About six minutes before the shock, the whole
heavens appeared to be illuminated, and darkness immediately afterwards ensued.
No damage was done.
These
commotions were renewed in February, as appears by the intelligence from
Michigan, written to me by Judge Witherall:
"The
earthquakes continue to visit us. On the 3d instant, fourteen minutes past 4 P.
M., a small shock was felt; the mercury low, but not quite in the ball; it had
risen very considerably a few hours previous to the shock. On the 7th, at 4 P.
M., the weather continuing moderate, the shock was strong, nearly equaling the
one I previously mentioned to you, and continued about ninety seconds; on the
same evening, at half past seven, another small shock; at fifty-five minutes
past nine, the same evening, another small shock; at eleven, another, and at 2
A. M. of the 8th, one which seemed to produce a different motion; that is, like
pounding up and down, instead of oscillating.
On the 7th
of February several shocks occurred at Pittsburgh. These were most extensively
felt, and by no means confined to that region. They began about four in the
morning. Many persons were so much alarmed as to rise from their beds and run
out of doors, screaming with affright. Flashes of light similar to those seen
on the 16th of December were perceived toward the southwest. The last
concussions were greater than any that had been experienced before. There was
another shake between ten and eleven that night.
Being on
horseback in Livingston County, Kentucky, Mr. Riddick, on the morning of the
8th of February, was sensible of the earthquake. His horse refused to proceed,
and bracing himself on his legs, stood still. The atmosphere was remarkably
luminous for some time prior to the shaking of the ground. There was no
moonshine; and yet objects could be seen to a considerable distance. On this
occasion the brightness was general and did not proceed from any point or spot
in the heavens. It was broad and expanded, reaching from the zenith, on every
side, toward the horizon. It exhibited no flashes, nor coruscations; but, as
long as it lasted, was a diffused illumination of the atmosphere on all sides; but
no noise was distinguished until the shaking of the earth began; then the usual
rumbling sound was heard.
William W.
Worsely, Esq. of Lexington, (Ken.) on the 29th of February, reported the
particulars at large, and published them in the newspapers.
Thomas
Crawford, jun. of Louisville, (Ken.) published an account of the terrestrial
commotions in very emphatical terms at Russelville, (Kentucky.)
Mr. Mathias
M. Speed wrote to his friend, Thomas Speed, Esq. of Bardstown, an account of
the earthquake of February 7, and the following days, in a communication dated
March 3, 1812. He states the appearance of frequent lights during the
commotions, and that from one of the low islands in the Mississippi, where he
was, sand, coal, and warm water were ejected from holes in the earth. Some of the
coal was collected by Mr. Pierce, and transmitted to me. About the 1st of May,
1812, I made a few experiments upon it at the city of Washington. I found it to
be very inflammable; it consumed with a bright and vivid blaze. A copious smoke
was emitted from it, whose smell was not at all sulphureous, but bituminous in
a high degree. Taken out of the fire in its ignited and burning state it did
not immediately become extinct; but continued to burn until it was consumed.
While blowed upon, instead of being deadened, it became brighter by the blast.
The ashes formed during the combustion were of a whitish colour; and when put
into water, imparted to it the quality of turning to a green the blue corolla
of a phlox whose juice was subjected to its action. By this, and other tests,
the alkalinity of the residue was fully ascertained.
The Hon.
Israel Pickens of Buncombe county, (N. C.) received a letter from the Rev. John
Carrigan, dated 28th of February, and containing the following information:
"During
my travels lately to and from the state of Georgia, I made it a part of my
business to obtain the most accurate accounts of the present shaking of the
earth, from all parts. I have found that in all parts of the continent the
motion of the earth has been the same, and its partiality remarked in the same
neighborhoods. In this country, the first rocking (as it is generally called)
was perceived on the 23d of December, a little before daylight. Since that time
it has been observed almost every week through South Carolina and parts of
Georgia. Several persons in those states have told me that they had felt it
almost every day since. No damages have arisen, more than a few bricks shaken
off some chimneys. There is no truth in the report in circulation respecting
the fall of the Painted Rock, and other extraordinaries in Buncombe county. I
gave my friend, Colonel Freeman, (in Georgia,) a call, who informed me that he
had particularly noticed some tall poplars in his lane during the time of the
second shock, rocking with equable motion from northeast to southwest, which I
have found to be general. On the 7th and 16th instant the shaking has been
general here. I do not consider it an earthquake proceeding form the usual
causes."
"Captain
Robert Alexander, of Lincoln, (N. C.) gave me a most alarming account of a
phenomenon which was generally seen on the night of the 20th instant. Three
large extraordinary fires, in the air, one appeared in an easterly direction,
one in the north, and one in the south. Their continuance was several hours;
their size as large as a house on fire; the motion of the blaze quite visible,
but no sparks appeared."
"Another
phenomenon appeared on the 22d of November, of which I was a spectator. About 2
o'clock P. M. a meteor took fire in the air, attended with a fulminating noise,
and bore a southeast direction; and however unaccountable, it is a fact, that
about the same instant, a whitish substance, resembling a duck in size and
shape, detached itself, and descended with a swift motion, from the cloud of
smoke that was formed, and was beheld at my house, and fifteen miles due north
of it, and twenty-three miles west of it, at the same instant."
"Whether
these things are ominous or not, one thing is certain, this is a time of extraordinaries."
To these
curious notices, I add the communication from New-Orleans, of William Shaler,
Esq. dated March 23d, 1812.
"Dear Sir,"
"Knowing
the interest you take in all natural events, I do myself the pleasure to
communicate to you the following simple account of the late earthquake, as I
received it from the patron of a Kentucky boat lately arrived here. On the 7th
of last February, at 3 A. M., being moored to the bank of the Mississippi,
about thirteen miles above New Madrid, he was awakened by a tremendous roaring
noise, felt his vessel violently shaken, and observed the trees over the bank
falling in every direction, and agitated like reeds on a windy day, and many
sparks of fire emitted from the earth. He immediately cut his cable and put off
into the middle of the river, where he soon found the current changed, and the
boat hurried up, for about the space of a minute, with the velocity of the
swiftest horse; he was obliged to hold his hand to his head to keep his hat on.
On the current's running its natural course, which it did gradually, he
continued to proceed down the river, and at about daylight he came to a most
terrific fall, which, he thinks, was at least six feet perpendicular, extending
across the river, and about half a mile wide. The whirls and ripplings of this
rapid were such that the vessel was altogether unmanageable, and destruction
seemed inevitable; some of the former he thinks were, at least, thirty feet
deep, and seemed to be formed by the water's being violently sucked into some
chasm in the river's bottom. He and his men were constantly employed in pumping
and bailing, by which, and the aid of Providence, he says, he got safe through!
As soon as he was able to look round, he observed whole forests on each bank
fall prostrate, to use his own comparison, like soldiers grounding their arms
at the word of command. On his arrival at New-Madrid he found that place a
complete wreck, sunk about twelve feet below its level, and entirely deserted;
its inhabitants, with those of the adjacent country, who had fled there for
refuge, were encamped in its neighbourhood: he represents their cries as truly
distressing. A large barge loaded with five hundred barrels of flour, and other
articles, was split from end to end, and turned upside down at the bank. Of
nearly thirty loaded boats only this and one more escaped destruction; the
water ran twelve feet perpendicular, and threw many of them a great many rods
on shore; several lives were lost among the boatmen. Another fall was formed
about eight miles below the town, similar to the one above, the roaring of
which he could distinctly hear at New-Madrid. He waited five days for the fall
to wear away; during that time the earth was constantly trembling, at intervals
of about five minutes. He observed many fissures in the earth below the town,
five or six feet wide, extending in length out of sight, and one side several
feet lower than the other. On the fifth day he passed the lower fall which had
worn away to a practicable rapid. He felt a succession of shocks of earthquake
until he came down to Flam Island. He spoke of many physical changes in the
river, particularly a great multiplication of sawyers, but he does not describe
them with sufficient accuracy to enable me to give you an account of them."
"I have
also seen several persons who passed New-Madrid on the 20th of February; they
report that the earth still continues to tremble there, at that time. The falls
had worn away to smooth rapids."
"With
very great respect and esteem I am, Dear Sir, your very humble servant,"
"The Hon. Samuel L. Mitchill
W.SHALER."
The information contained in a
description, forward to William Duane, Esq. by one of his correspondents at St.
Genevieve, in Louisiana, shows the state of opinion in the mind of the sensible
writer, there, about the 1st of April, 1812, on the subjects of the earthquakes
at New Madrid, and the surrounding region. This may be found on the pages of
his Aurora.
A.B.
Woodward, Esq. one of the judges of Michigan Territory, in his letter of the
7th of April, 1812, wrote thus, "We have had nine shocks of the earthquake
here, of which I have an exact memorandum for eight, and have somehow entirely
lost the time of the other. I felt four myself. I know only one person, a
French lady, who felt the whole; speaking here of the eight." And in a
letter dated June 23d, the same gentleman observes that "in a late journey
to the Riviere aux Tranches, in Upper Canada, I found the number of
shocks of the earthquake felt there, was exactly the same as here, that is, nine.
Dr.
Robertson, the enterprising traveler to the sources of the Arkansas River, by
order of the government, in 1806, witnessed the phenomenona of these
earthquakes, very particularly at St. Genevieve, where he resided during their
occurrence. He travelled with me from Washington to Fredericktown, on the 3d of
July, 1812, and parted with me at that place on the morning of the 4th, he
journeying to the westward by the way of Hagerstown, and I proceeding
southwestwardly to Harper's Ferry, and its vicinity. This gentleman, among
other matters, declared to me, that the had kept a record or memorandum of the
shocks of these earthquakes, until they exceeded five
hundred , and then ceased
to note them any more, because he became weary of the task.
The commotions,
however, did not end here. They were renewed from time to time. My
correspondent, Peter H. Cole, wrote me, in a letter dated at Clarksville, in
Montgomery county, Tennessee, under date of December 15, 1812, as follows:
"The earthquakes continue to visit us. We had a tolerably severe one on
the morning of the 14th instant. The 16th instant will make one year since they
commenced. They have destroyed a number of chimneys in this state, and
terrified many of the inhabitants."
So, on the
24th of November, 1812, a shock was again felt in the morning, near Russellville,
in Kentucky.
The same
gentleman afterwards, in a communication from the same place, of January 26,
1813, furnished additional facts, "In the month of September," he
stated, "I visited a spring of about the distance of fourteen miles from
my residence. It was situated on the bank of a creek that issued forth strong
sulphureous water. The smell was evident to a considerable distance. It
received its sulphureous impregnation from a very heavy earthquake that
occurred in January. Before that event it was a limestone water. On that
occasion a new limestone spring broke out about twenty feet above the original
spring; and to this day, the respective fountains pour forth their calcarious
and sulphureous waters, in distinct currents. Some springs ceased to run for
some time; and others ran muddy several hours after the earth had been
convulsed. The earthquakes appeared to affect very sensibly both the body and
mind of human beings. In some instances, where individuals had been deprived of
their usual sleep, through fear of being engulfed in the earth, their stomachs
were troubled with nausea, and sometimes even vomiting. Others complained of
debility, tremor, and pain in the knees and legs. The shocks seemed to produce
effects resembling those of electricity. We have had a very wet spring, summer,
and autumn, with a loaded atmosphere; and I have no doubt much impregnated with
sulphureous particles. Sickness was much more prevalent last winter, spring,
summer, and fall, than ever was known in this country; and, no doubt, the state
of the atmosphere was the principal cause."
Nor had
those subterranean tumults ceased at the close of 1813. For two shocks were
felt at Russellville, on the 5th of December, one at ten o'clock in the
morning, and the other four in the afternoon.
They were
repeated in the Illinois Territory about the same time. Stanley Griswold, Esq.
gave an account of them in a short narrative of December 18th. This was printed
in the gazettes of the time. They were particularly severe at the salt works
belonging to the United States; and but moderate at a short distance off. In
the 16th volume of the Medical Repository, P. 304, there are other sensible
observations of the same ingenious gentleman.
And on the
29th of December Mr. Hempstead, the delegate in congress from the Missouri
Territory, moved for the consideration of a proposition relative to an
additional judge in that quarter. He said he has been instructed by the
legislature of the territory to bring the measure forward. The settlement of Arkansas, for which the new judge was
asked, was situated two hundred miles from New-Madrid, where the courts were
then held, and since the late earthquakes, the road had become so nearly
impassable, that a circuit of three hundred miles was required to go from one
place to the other. So great a distance from the seat of justice, obviously
amounted, in many cases, to a denial of the benefits of the judiciary, and
called loudly upon the legislature for a remedy.
After this
minute, reiterated, and, perhaps, tedious detail of facts, it will be rational
to attempt some deductions. When I engaged the task of collecting the evidence
on these curious and interesting phenomena, I was in expectation that physical occurrences
so immediately before our eyes and under our feet, would have qualified me to
form something like a tolerable theory of earthquakes. I must own, however,
that after all the information I have collected, I have not been enabled to
offer a solution, by any means satisfactory to myself. But, although materials
may yet be wanting for a perfect theory, it is a matter of some consolation to
have assembled into one body, the phenomena of the most memorable earthquakes
that ever agitated these parts of North America, and to have made a record of
them for my sagacious and fortunate successors.
1. The
trembling of the earth was felt from the Atlantic Ocean to the regions far
beyond the Mississippi. The accounts given by the Indians uniformly stated that
the shocks had been very frequent and violent, to a great distance up the
Arkansas. They appear to have been felt very little to the north of the
Potomac, and east of the Alleghany.
2. Though
the commotions were of great extent, it was not possible to assign a priority
to any place. Though the earthquakes were not equally violent or extensive, yet
in those of the widest diffusion or circuit, there was no method of tracing a
succession; on the contrary, the shocks in the most distant situations were
synchronous, or nearly so.
3. Air was
produced below, and extricated into the atmosphere.
4. This,
when it passed through water, produced bubbles and froth, and after their
extrication, formed visible vapour, obscuring the atmosphere.
5. Hot water
was ejected with considerable force.
6. Coal or
carbonated wood was thrown up in a similar manner, and about the same time.
7. Light, in
some cases, was extricated, and from the circumstances of its appearance, may
be considered, not as an accidental coincidence of the earthquake, but as a
natural and necessary accompaniment. But, in most places, there was no luminous
appearance.
8. Sounds
were sometimes heard, but by no means uniformly or steadily. In very many cases
there was no noise at all.
9. The gas
(3. and 4.) the hot water (5.) and the coal (6.) lead conclusively to the
existence of subterranean fire; and the light (7.) and sound (8.) induce the
same belief.
10. But,
after all, it is not very evident what kindles the flame beneath; by what means
it is supported by air, and kept from extinction by water; how deep it lies;
how it convulses the superincumbent strata, and communicates its tremors
instantaneously, for several hundred miles. Nor am I able to explain to my
satisfaction, why a certain part of the bed of the Mississippi was its focus;
nor why it happened during the winter season.
I console
myself, however, that the history which I have written will give valuable
information to the curious on these subjects, and assist some more happy
inquirer into nature, to deduce a full and adequate theory of earthquakes.
Let me,
nevertheless, before I lay down my pen, request the reader to consider this
paper as a sequel to the history of the earthquakes in New-England, as has it
been written by the learned and ingenious Samuel Williams, LL. D. and published
in the transactions of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences at Boston.
Permit me
also to observe, that contemporaneous earthquakes have agitated other regions
of the globe. Terrible commotions were experienced among the Azores in 1808 and
1811; and in Venezuela and St. Vincents in 1812. I have collected the facts
into distinct histories, which I intend at convenient times to offer to this
society.
The
favourers of the several hypotheses invented to explain the awful phenomena of
earthquakes, may all find arguments to support them, in the preceding recitals.
The mechanical reasoner
will find the great strat of the earth falling in some places, rising in
others, and agitated everywhere. The chemical expositor will discover evidence
enough of subterranean fire in the coal, hot water, vapour, and air bubbles
which were ejected and extricated. The electrical philosopher will deduce from the
lights, the noises, and the velocity of their motions, conclusions favourable
to the origin of earthquakes from electron, that subtle and universal agent.
Even the believer of the conversion of metallic potassium, by rapid
inflammation, into common potash in the deep recesses of the earth, will find
in the salt-petrous sandstone of the western states, a better argument than any
I am acquainted with, to countenance the alkaline system of earthquakes. And yet, these
various expositions, plausible, in some respects, as each of them is, are
deficient in that general character and universal application which ought to
pervade scientific researches.”
___________________________________________
The
following is from the US government web site earthquakes.usgs.gov
1811, December 16,
08:15 UTC Northeast Arkansas - the first main shock - 2:15 am local time - Magnitude ~7.7
This powerful
earthquake was felt widely over the entire eastern United States. People were
awakened by the shaking in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Charleston,
South Carolina. Perceptible ground shaking was in the range of one to three
minutes depending upon the observers location. The ground motions were
described as most alarming and frightening in places like Nashville, Tennessee,
and Louisville, Kentucky. Reports also describe houses and other structures
being severely shaken with many chimneys knocked down. In the epicentral area
the ground surface was described as in great convulsion with sand and water
ejected tens of feet into the air (liquefaction).
1811, December 16, 13:15 UTC Northeast Arkansas - the
"Dawn" Aftershock - 7:15
am local time - Magnitude ~7.0
A large event felt
on the East Coast that is sometimes regarded as the fourth principal earthquake
of the 1811-1812 sequence. The event is described as "severe" at New
Bourbon, Missouri, and was described by boatman John Bradbury, who was moored
to a small island south of New Madrid, as "terrible, but not equal to the
first". Hough believes that this large aftershock occurred around dawn in
the New Madrid region near the surface projection of the Reelfoot fault.
1812, January 23, 15:15 UTC, New Madrid, Missouri
9:15 a.m. local time - Magnitude
~7.5
The second
principal shock of the 1811-1812 sequence. It is difficult to assign
intensities to the principal shocks that occurred after 1811 because many of
the published accounts describe the cumulative effects of all the earthquakes
and because the Ohio River was iced over, so there was little river traffic and
fewer human observers. Using the December 16 earthquake as a standard, however,
there is a general consensus that this earthquake was the smallest of the three
principals. The meizoseismal area was characterized by general ground warping,
ejections, fissuring, severe landslides, and caving of stream banks.
1812, February 7, 09:45 UTC, New Madrid, Missouri
3:45 am local time - Magnitude ~7.7
The third principal
earthquake of the 1811-1812 series. Several destructive shocks occurred on
February 7, the last of which equaled or surpassed the magnitude of any
previous event. The town of New Madrid was destroyed. At St. Louis, many houses
were damaged severely and their chimneys were thrown down. The meizoseismal
area was characterized by general ground warping, ejections, fissuring, severe
landslides, and caving of stream banks.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The following map is from the Central
United States Earthquake Consortium, a partnership of Alabama, Arkansas,
Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, and Tennessee that was formed
to plan and coordinate activities related to earthquake research and planning.
