Thursday, December 22, 2011

After the First Quake

  In the week after the first quake news slowly spread of the extent of the damage in the New Madrid area.  Boats passing down the river noted the damage and their experiences as the quake occurred and relayed that information wherever they landed downstream.  At places such as Natchez and the first Chickasaw Bluff.  Travelers relayed fantastic sounding tales of the ground rupturing, geysers of sand and debris and trees breaking as wildlife screamed in terror.  The also noted the Mississippi river either, shaking, boiling or even flowing against the current as the quake occurred.  Eyewitnesses such as William L. Pierce struggled to comprehend the dimensions of the disaster and write them down.  These accounts would become the basis of investigation in the succeeding years to unravel the mystery of the quakes.

Friday, December 16, 2011

The First Great Quake



Early on the Morning of December 16, 1811,  the City of Charleston’s watchman stationed in one of the city’s tall church steeples to give warning of fire to sleeping residents, began to notice the structure he was in began to sway in a fashion to cause the bell of the church to start ringing.  Onlookers in the street below called up to ask if there was a fire and the watchman replied  it was an earthquake!.  Little did they know they were witnessing the effects of an earthquake far to the west, centered near the small town of Little Prairie in the bootheel area of the future state of Missouri.  There the effect of the quake was more catastrophic with fissures opening in the ground and sand and subsurface material violently being ejected into the air as trees snapped and clashed together.  Eyewitnesses there watched as the river became turbulent boiling and sloshing while riverbanks caved in.
As the seismic waves traveled across the continent, people experienced them not knowing their origin.  Frontier cabins quaked as buildings on the East coast trembled.  Closer to the epicenter chimneys cracked or tumbled to the ground.  Farm animals bellowed in terror as chickens flew from their roosts into the dark.  Everywhere people wondered about the source of the vibrations they were feeling.  It would be weeks until news reached them of the earthquake and its aftershocks.  Although the earthquake of December 16, 1811 was a major one it would be followed in the coming months by aftershocks and two more major quakes on January 23, 1812, and February 7, 1812.  These quakes would soon be lost in the tides of time until being rediscovered in the modern era and studied to understand their real impact.
For more information on eyewitness accounts of the earthquakes visit the New Madrid Compendium website

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Wars, Comets, and Other Events, The Year Prior to the Earthquakes

 
            The year leading up to the New Madrid earthquakes was packed with events with global implications. 
The continent of Europe was embroiled in the Napoleonic wars.  Reports from Europe resounded with the clash of vast armies and fleets at sea. Revolutionary movements spreading in the empire of Spain were convulsing the New World. From Texas to Argentina, revolutionaries struggled to gain control of their countries from the decaying Spanish Empire.  American newspapers were filled with accounts of revolts springing up across the South American continent and Spanish Mexico.  
The United States witnessed conflict on the frontier between Indian tribes and the United States government.  This struggle culminated in the Battle of Tippecanoe where United States troops under the command of William Henry Harrison defeated the Indian alliance that had been formed by the charismatic leader Tecumseh.  Meanwhile on the Ohio River a steam powered boat, later named the New Orleans, was being constructed at Pittsburgh that would revolutionize travel in the Central United States. The Louisiana Purchase was slowly being settled and organized into smaller territories. Already there was a push to divide the area into Upper and Lower Louisiana to make it easier to administer.
In addition to the turmoil on the continents it seemed that nature was also stirring.  In 1811 a comet appeared that was visible until 1812.  Flooding occurred in the Mississippi river valley and extreme cold weather gripped the New England area. Storms racked the east coast of the United States and caused massive damage and loss of shipping.  In September a partial solar eclipse was visible in the United States.  These unusual phenomena probably stirred some to wonder what they portended.
It was in conjunction  with all these events that the people of the United States would experience the most unprecedented phenomena of all, a series of earthquakes that would be felt across the broad expanse of the continent.

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Some New Madrid related Items

In conjunction with CERI the IRIS consortium has put together a Web display function that can be used by public instiutions to showcase seismic information,  Also included is information on historic earthquakes such as the New Madrid earthquakes.  For more information follow this link:
http://www.iris.edu/hq/programs/education_and_outreach/museum_displays/active_earth/

Sunday, December 11, 2011

The Great Quake

On December 16, 1811 the first of the New Madrid earthquakes occurred.  These seismic events were unprecedented in their size and scope with the effects being felt in areas far remote from the epicentral region.  The earthquakes sparked a drama of both geological and human events that are still with us to this day. This blog will try and account some of these events during the bicentennial year to give the readers some idea of what the New Madrid earthquakes were and their impact.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

The Famous and the Earthquake

One of the questions that I'm asked almost constantly is who felt the earthquake?  A better way of putting it would be who felt it that we would think of as famous.  So far the list of those people is small but growing, For instance, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, John C. Calhoun, Andrew Jackson, Nicholas Roosevelt and other famous people experienced the earthquakes.  Their accounts offer some insight into how they viewed the natural world and the events of their time.

Fall

The blogging has been slow here due to the commitments of going to meetings, will update with new material as time permits.

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

The East Coast Earthquake

     Yesterday we had a reminder that the Eastern United States is not seismically quiet.  An earthquake occurred in Central Virgina that was the largest one there in at least a century.  Just like the New Madrid earthquakes they were felt at a vast distance up and down the East Coast and to the West of the Appalachian mountains.  Building damage was sporadic with older buildings and chiminies suffering the most.  To give you a sense of perspective here is an account of how the New Madrid earthquake of December 16, 1811 was felt in some locations in Virginia
At Norfolk Virginia:
"Norfolk, Dec. 16.-- This morning two distinct shocks of an Earthquake were felt in this place; The first (and according to most accounts) the most violent, was about 3 o'clock. It was so severe as to awaken a number of persons out of their sleep. The shock at two very short intervals might have continued about a minute. The shaking of the beds is described, as if a strong man had taken hold on the posts, and shook them with all the violence in his power. Several clocks were stopped. The houses were shaken with great violence. Again about 8 o'clock another shock was felt by a greater number of persons, as many had risen, this was also very violent. The most sensible effect produced by this, that we have yet learned, was that of throwing a pipe of Wine off the skids, in a warehouse in Commerce-street. Before our next we expect to obtain some further particulars respecting this (in our climate) unusual convulsion of nature.http://www.ceri.memphis.edu/compendium/comp1b/images/18111227_nmad_6_89.jpg
     Another location where the the earthquakes were felt was Washington, D. C, there the quake was noticed by some individuals at the growing capital of the new nation.  Here is an account for the February 7, 1812 earthquake:
"And suddenly there was a great Earthquake, so that, the foundations, &c. were shaken." Yesterday morning about 4 o'clock, another smart shock of an earthquake was felt in this city. Several persons of whom we have heard, were awaked from their sleep and much alarmed by it; in one instance a part of the ceiling of a room was shaken down by it.-From the hour at which it occurred, it was not felt by many, and its duration, &c. differently described.  "
 .http://www.ceri.memphis.edu/compendium/comp1b/images/18120217_nmad_10_171.jpg

You will notice that these report were for earthquakes with epicenters in the Central United States.  These earthquakes were of a greater magnitude than the one in Virginia yesterday but still effects of them were noted on the East Coast of the United States.  The quake of yesterday is a reminder that preparedness for earthquakes and the study of the phenomena should not be neglected in the Central and Eastern United States.





Monday, July 11, 2011

The Good Old Summertime

The pace of blogging has been slow due to the summertime.  More updates are forthcoming. Stay tuned.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

The New Madrid Earthquakes at Memphis


In honor of the Seismological Society of America meeting being held in Memphis from April 13 through April 15.  Here is a bit of history on the New Madrid earthquakes as they were experienced at Memphis.

At the time of the quakes Memphis was not even Memphis, It was a fort named Pickering perched on the top of the 4th Chickasaw Bluff to act as a trading post with the local Chickasaw Indians and as a defensive position when the Louisiana territory was still owned by Spain.  It had a small garrison and trading post with very little population.  There is only a brief mention of the effects there and only of the December 16, 1811 earthquake; it is unknown what the effect was for the later earthquake events.  Here is William L. Pierce’s description of the event:

At Fort Pickering, on the extremity, the fourth Chickasaw bluff, and 242 miles from the mouth of the Ohio, the land is strong and high there, however, the earth was extremely agitated, and the block house which is almost a solid mass of hewn timber, trembled like the aspin leaf”

Pierce left no information on who his source was and little is known about Fort Pickering at the time of the quakes.   Many military records were destroyed during the War of 1812 and thus Fort Pickering in many ways is a fort without a history.

Monday, March 14, 2011

The Great Earthquake


We in the New Madrid Seismic zone have had historic quakes but the recent one in Japan shows what can happen when a large magnitude earthquake hits an industrialized nation.  Japanese history is punctuated with several large earthquakes that caused damage and large losses of life.  A complete list with synopsis
of the events can be found here: Historic Japanese Earthquakes.
The study of earthquakes in Japan prior to the modern era used historic records to help assemble a catalog of earthquake locations and effects.  These catalogs are invaluable in helping to determine earthquake risk, and in planning for their mitigation by use of building codes and emergency preparedness.  The recent quake shows how even the most prepared nation will suffer loss from an earthquake, and that the lesson we should learn is preparedness will save lives.

Monday, February 7, 2011

The Hard Shock


One hundred and ninety nine years ago the greatest of the New Madrid earthquakes occurred.  Many described it at the hard shock.. Here is an example of what they experienced:

"About 3 o'clock on the morning of the 7th, we were waked by the violent agitation of the boat, attended with a noise more tremendous and terific than I can describe or any one conceive, who was not present or near to such a scene. The constant discharge of heavy cannon might give some idea of the noise for loudness, but this was infinitely more terrible, on account of its appearing to be subterraneous."  Account of Matthias Speed near New Madrid, Missouri.

On the edge of the continent the quake was felt with an equal violence:
"At a quarter before five o'clock in the evening of Tuesday last, a small shock was felt and about half past three on Friday morning, it was followed by one that far exceeded in severity any thing of the kind heretofore experienced here. It continued with considerable severity for about 2 minutes, but the motion did not entirely subside under ten or fifteen. It shook off the top of one of the College chimnies, threw down partitions inside with in one of the professors houses; and partially affected several other buildings.” 8120221_nmad_3_137 Account from Columbia South Carolina. 
These are just a sample of the accounts from that day. Many people across the continent were jolted by the quake and wondered what had occured. This curiosity led them to record what they experienced and help modern researchers to rediscover the earthquakes after a long period of obscurity.