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 New Madrid, Missouri
December 16, 1811
Around 2 a.m., people across the Mississippi Valley felt the first of a series of earthquakes that would rock the winter of 1811-1812.
What happened?
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At least two quakes happened on December 16, triggering landslides, opening cracks in the ground, and washing boats ashore on the Mississippi River. Chimneys toppled as far away as Cincinnati, Ohio and St. Louis, Missouri.
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On January 23, another quake followed, and another on February 7 that destroyed the town of New Madrid, population 400.
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 Centered near New Madrid, Missouri, the tremors were intraplate earthquakes: rare, mysterious quakes that strike far from the plate boundary zones where we expect seismic shaking.
Sometimes, Earth’s plates can split, creating a rift where the crust is being pulled apart. The New Madrid quakes happened on an ancient rift. Right now, that rift is either not moving, or moving so slowly that it is undetectable.
A repeat of the New Madrid quakes would cause serious damage in a five-state area that millions call home. But to be fully prepared for it would be costly—and it could be hundreds or thousands of years before enough strain builds up to cause major shaking. When so much is unknown, society’s best decisions aren’t always clear.
Continue to Building for Earthquakes. >>
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