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1811–1812 New Madrid earthquakes
Series of earthquakes from December 1811 to February 1812 affecting the Louisiana Territory (now Missouri) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This refers to a series of earthquakes near the town of New Madrid, in late 1811, and early 1812. They are known as the 1811–12 New Madrid earthquakes. The town is right next to the Mississippi River. This was the largest earthquake known in the United States in recorded history.[1]
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The first shock was on December 16, 1811. It had a magnitude of 7.5-7.9 on the Richter scale. There also was an aftershock of magnitude 7.4 on the same day. They were the most powerful earthquakes to hit the contiguous United States east of the Rocky Mountains in recorded history.[2][3][4] We use the word "contiguous" because we wish to exclude Hawaii and Alaska, neither of which was then part of the United States.
The earthquakes occurred in and near the Mississippi River town of New Madrid. The town was part of the Louisiana Territory at the time. Today, it is in the US state of Missouri.
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There are estimates that these stable continental region earthquakes were felt strongly over an area of 50,000 square miles (130,000 km2), and moderately across nearly 3 million km2 (1 million sq mi). The 1906 San Francisco earthquake, by comparison, was felt moderately over roughly 16,000 km2 (6,200 sq mi). There were in all three earthquakes, and each had major aftershocks.[5]
Different American Indian tribes interpreted these earthquakes, and came to a consensus: the powerful earthquake had to have meant something. For many tribes in Tecumseh's pan-Indian alliance, it meant that Tecumseh and his brother the Prophet must be supported.[6]