The more I see, the more I realize that this could have produced the kind of destruction we have read about in the Book of Mormon. And it woke up in 1812 to send out a hello to the world before the Book of Mormon came out.....:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wabash_Valley_Seismic_Zone
New Madrid Earthquake -
ReplyDeleteA little after 2 o'clock on the morning of December 16, the inhabitants of the region were suddenly awakened by the groaning, creaking, and cracking of the timbers of the houses or cabins in which they were sleeping, by the rattle of furniture thrown down, and by the crash of falling chimneys. In fear and trembling they hurriedly groped their way from their houses to escape the falling debris, and remained shivering in the winter air until morning, the repeated shocks at intervals during the night keeping them from returning to their weakened or tottering dwellings. Daylight brought little improvement to their situation, for early in the morning another shock, preceded by a low rumbling and fully as severe as the first, was experienced. The ground rose and fell as earth waves, like the long, low swell of the sea, passed across its surface, tilting the trees until their branches interlocked and opening the soil in deep cracks as the surface was bent. Landslides swept down the steeper bluffs and hillsides; considerable areas were uplifted, and still larger areas sunk and became covered with water emerging from below through fissures or little "craterlets" or accumulating from the obstruction of the surface drainage. On the Mississippi great waves were created, which overwhelmed many boats and washed others high upon the shore, the return current breaking off thousands of trees and carrying them out into the river. High banks caved and were precipitated into the river, sand bars and points of islands gave way, and whole islands disappeared.
The New Madrid earthquake caused very slight loss of life, as compared with most other earthquakes of similar intensity. This immunity was due to the fact that the region of greatest disturbance was thinly settled and without large towns with brick or stone buildings to collapse and crush the inhabitants.
The earthquake, as has been indicated, left many persons homeless, while the habitations of others were rendered so dangerous that the owners were compelled to take up their abode in tents or temporary huts for safety.
Moreover, the continuance of the shocks gave rise to an uneasiness for the future which seriously retarded the recovery.
Fissuring was one of the most common and widespread of the phenomena resulting from the New Madrid earthquake and is mentioned in practically all contemporaneous narratives. Among the most vivid accounts is that of Le Sieur, who says that the earth rolled in waves several feet high with visible depressions between the swells, finally bursting and leaving parallel fissures extending in a north-south direction for distances as great as 5 miles in some cases.
They recorded a total of 1,874 shocks between December 16, 1811, and March 15, 1812, but many more occurred in the succeeding months for over a year. Of the 1,874 shocks, 8 are classed as violent, 10 as very severe, 35 moderate, 65 generally perceptible, 89 of "fifth rate," and 1,667 indistinctly felt or noted by movements of delicately poised objects.
The very severe quakes reportedly caused church bells to ring in Boston, Washington DC and Charleston. It is also reported that an uplift caused the Mississippi river flowed backwards and changed its course in several places.
Read further: http://pubs.usgs.gov/bul/0494/report.pdf