Friday’s 5.2 earthquake centered in southern Illinois – the strongest in the area in 40 years — reminded me of the 1811-1812 New Madrid earthquakes, estimated at 8.0 or stronger on the Richter scale.
The New Madrid earthquakes, a series of three strong quakes accompanied by thousands of aftershocks, started on 16 Dec. 1811 at New Madrid, Missouri, and continued for more than two months. The third and fourth strong earthquakes took place on January 23 and February 7, 1812.
According to The Virtual Times: The Great New Madrid Earthquake, the earthquakes:
“… 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.”
Other earthquakes have had more of an impact on our ancestors – through deaths, property damage, and just the fear generated by the earth trembling beneath their feet.
Of course, there is the well-known 1906 San Francisco, California, earthquake. It measured 7.8 on the Richter scale and caused about 3,000 deaths, many of them from the fires started by the quake.
Among the top U.S. earthquakes were the 1872 Owens Valley, California, quake, measuring 7.4 on Richter scale, and the 1886 Charleston, South Carolina, quake, measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale. The Owens Valley quake took the lives of 27 people and the Charleston quake took the lives of 60 or more.
Every state in the United States has had one or more earthquakes.
The following earthquake sources are interesting, especially if you believe an earthquake may have had an impact on your ancestor.
1. GenDisasters, a wonderful source for all types of disasters – not just earthquakes
2. The U.S. Geological Survey’s U.S. Earthquake Information by State and the largest earthquakes by state
3. Before and After the Great Earthquake and Fire: Early Films of San Francisco, 1897-1916
4. Museum of the City of San Francisco’s register of the dead and survivors for the 1906 Earthquake
5. 1886 Charleston, South Carolina, Earthquake damage photos
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