Dbq New Madrid Earthquake

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On December 16, 1811, at roughly 2:15 a.m., the most powerful earthquake ever to hit the eastern United States struck Northeast Arkansas. Clocking in at a presumed 8.0 on the richter scale, the first of three major earthquakes form the New Madrid fault made itself known. This quake, and the two subsequent quakes following shortly after, caused some of the most intense damage and events ever recorded in U.S. history. The quakes were felt in Montreal, Boston, and even the White House. Events such as soil liquefaction and reversal in the flow of the Mississippi river are just a few of many glimpses into the absolute power of earthquakes. In this exploratory paper, I will review the three main quakes, along with their aftermath both

on the land and on the people living on said land, with a few fun supernatural facts that go along with said earthquakes.
The Causes
Before we review the actual events, a look at the possible cause(s) of the earthquakes must be examined.

It is not foreign for the New Madrid zone to quake. Geologist Martitia Tuttle, who has been investigating the faults says “Some had archaeological sites on top of them with 2,000-year-old artifacts,” Tuttle goes on to say. “There’s no way the New Madrid earthquakes were a one-time freak event.” The Midwest had been slammed by violent quakes around A.D. 1450 and 900 and 2350 B.C.—and probably more often (Rusch). Over the past 4,500 years, the region was most likely visited by multiple quakes of 7.0 or more. Big groups of earthquakes have been discovered, dating back to ancient times.There have been more quakes to hit this region after the 1811-12 disaster, one hit Lepanto, Arkansas, in January 5 of 1843. Another 6.7 quake shook Charleston, Missouri, in October of 1895. So, why are such earthquakes hitting so far from a tectonic plate boundary? Why are they so powerful? Their power comes from the material around the New Madrid zone. The materials in the earth are not accustomed to such shakes, and therefore the rock is not equipped to absorb the shocks of the earthquakes. This is why they were felt in such a wide range of areas. Many theories have been put forth as to what actually sparked these earthquakes in this zone, but none have been fully accepted as true. It has been put forth that a hot spot under the area is to blame, because it is melting the earth’s crust in

that particular area.
There is also substantial proof stating that tremors were birthed out of movement happening on the Reelfoot Rift, one prehistoric rift zone said to be formed more than 400 million years back, after the area was pulled in various unnatural directions.
The First Quake
The first quake was felt at around 2:15 a.m.

on December 16, 1811. This central quake that started off in the early morning was reportedly due to "slippage along the Cottonwood Grove Fault in northeastern Arkansas."(Rafferty). Though it is stated that it arose in Northeastern Arkansas, eyewitness accounts state that it woke up citizens in Philadelphia, Boston, New York, and South Carolina. Throughout the next two days, aftershocks registering as high 7.0 rocked the land. Damage to civilian structures was minimal, due to the lack of population in these areas. Instances of damage were reported though, such as "collapsing chimneys, falling trees, and cracking timbers in houses"( Rafferty). While a few areas got raised, a number of regions fell into the earth. Water filled newly opened fissures, mainly from nearby wetlands, while areas not near wetlands were whetted by waters from the mighty Mississippi. Soil liquefaction was not left out in this mighty demonstration of geologic power, as it "caused large sand blows that fouled farmland in Missouri, Tennessee, and Arkansas."(Rafferty). Eyewitnesses say that trees along the Mississippi River fell in and were swept away, mainly because of loosened soil. Boats were thrown onto the land and swept under by the roaring, disturbed waters. The earthquake even erased an entire lake from existence. Uplift of over 3 meters was reported at one locality several hundred kilometers to the southwest of the epicentral zone where a lake formed by

the St. Francis River had its water replaced by sand. Numerous dead fish were found in the former lake bottom. (Nuttli)

As mentioned above, the ground in the eastern U.S. has hardly any rocks that will stop or absorb seismic waves, so the waves from this quake traveled very, very far, unimpeded. As soon as the quake began, waves were felt in the southern states, as well as Ontario, Canada.
Eyewitness accounts noted that the shaking rang church bells as far away as Boston, Massachusetts, and brought down chimneys in Cincinnati, Ohio, about 360 miles (580 km) away. U.S. Pres. James Madison is said to have felt the seismic waves arriving in Washington, D.C. In 2011 the results of a report pre pared by the USGS noted that residents within an area of approximately 232,000 square miles (about 600,000 square km) experienced very strong ground shak -ing, and people living in an area of roughly 965,000 square miles (about 2,500,000 square km) experienced shaking that was intense enough to frighten them. (Rafferty)

There were three aftershocks following this quake, and the third was the most severe, clocking in at 7.0 on the Richter scale. The point of the epicenter is not set in stone, though many think it also originated in Arkansas, though some claim it was in Tennessee. The damage was so overwhelming that it prompted Congress to put forth the very first Disaster Relief program, granting those whose land was sorely affected by the quakes with a just amount of land in a region untouched by damage.
The Second Quake
The second quake, though strong, was the weakest of the three to strike central America. It is speculated that the quake registered as 7.5 on the richter scale, and came in the early part of the nine a.m. hour on January 23, 1812. The true mystery is the whereabouts of the epicenter. it is said that it takes origin in New Madrid, Missouri, near the Reelfoot fault. Though there were documented changes in the topography of the area, damages to civilian dwellings were not widely reported. The usual land shaking repercussions were reported, such as landslides, fissuring, soil liquefaction, warping and caving of banks.
The Third Quake
Little solace knew the residents of central eastern America. A third earthquake, which is said to have matched and exceeded the shake on December 16 struck central America on February 7,1812. It was by far the most devastating of the three principal quakes. The town of New Madrid, Missouri, though it held steadfast and strong through the first two shakes, succumbed to the third. People were jolted from their beds, brickworks were toppled, and new lakes were created, while islands on the Mississippi River were pulled back down into its earthy, brown waters. It jolted the region awake in the hour of three a.m.. St. Louis, Missouri, a relatively modern city, was not exempt from the mayhem, as many houses were shaken open and toppled, as if nature was checking to see who was asleep. Warping of the ground did happen, as many streams of the river caved, and more earth succumbed to earth, while other parts of the land were forced upwards. Fissures were present, and though they filled with water, said water was spat out when elastic rebounding set in. The famous case of the backwards flowing Mississippi River occurred with this final quake. Boatmen along and in the river in that early morning reported that the tremors had caused their mighty Misissippi to flow backwards. This can be attributed to tremors flowing through the waters, creating waves opposite to the normal flow of the River, giving off the illusion that the most powerful force these people knew, had been overcome by another foreign force. Land was even pushed up to such a degree that it created a new, large lake. Reelfoot Lake was created by this occurance, only about 15 miles away from the epicenter of the quake. River water that had been forcefully spat out came into contact with the several nearby forested areas, and subsequently swept them away.
Eyewitness Accounts
With no video cameras, cameras, or recording equipment of any kind, the damage (besides what was apparent to the human eye) was mainly relayed by eyewitness accounts of the three earthquakes. speaking of the December sixteenth quake, one resident near the area wrote “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...formed a scene truly horrible,” (Rusch).
Speaking on the third shock of February seventh, one resident, George Heinrich Crist wrote, ”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.” (Historic).