A midwestern sequence so violent it rang church bells in Charleston, South Carolina and, by accounts of the day, briefly made the Mississippi River appear to run backward.
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DownloadThe New Madrid earthquakes were a sequence of powerful shocks over the winter of 1811–1812 in the Mississippi Valley — remarkably, far from any plate boundary. The first, in December 1811, ranks among the largest earthquakes known in the eastern United States.
Because the old, cold, rigid crust of the central U.S. carries seismic energy so efficiently, the shaking was reportedly felt over a vast area — ringing church bells hundreds of miles away and, in places, temporarily altering the course of the Mississippi River.
The New Madrid Seismic Zone is still active today, and a repeat would threaten a region — including Memphis and St. Louis — far less prepared for strong shaking than California.