The Earthquakes That Shook This Area in 1811 & 1812 (New Madrid Fault)

 J. Mark Lowe

Two hundred and thirteen years ago, (1811) an earthquake along the New Madrid fault created fear and turmoil throughout the South. Church pews were filled and calls of the end of the world were commonplace. The President was James Madison. He organized a large geographic survey to understand the extent of the earthquake damage. He was forced to face other issues very quickly with the War of 1812. 

James Madison was President during these earthquakes. 

Let’s take a look at a collection of scientific observations from an 1814 report.

The testimony of Colonel Samuel Hammong (6 Feb 1812) was to the following effect. He confined himself strictly to what he knew from personal observation. The first shock he witnessed was on the 15/16th of December last (1811). 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 chimneys 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 chimneys 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 more severe 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 courthouse at Carthage is a large brick edifice, and was cracked to its foundation, and considerably damaged. Several chimneys 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) a fine and fresh spring was observe to run very muddy for several hours. On examining it, after the mud 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 saw.

 A writer from New Madrid (Missouri), 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 vapor 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 6:30 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.

 

I add another respectable communication, from Mr. Joseph Ficklin of Russellville, (Kentucky) who thus describes the earthquakes, in a letter dated 5 Feb 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.

Source: A Detailed Narrative Of The Earthquakes, US Geological Services, 1814.