New Madrid Earthquake

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY GEOEGE OTIS SMITH, DIBECTOB BULLETIN 494 THE NEW MADRID EARTHQUAKE BY MYRON L. FULLER WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1912 CONTENTS. Page. Introduction.............................................................. 7 General statement...................................................... 7 Field work and acknowledgments...................................... 7 The story of the earthquake................................................. 9 Sources of information.................................................. 9 Summary of the disaster............................................... 10 Previous earthquakes in the Mississippi Valley.............................. 11 Recorded shocks....................................................... 11 Indian traditions...................................................... 12 Geologic evidence..................................................... 12 Record of the shocks....................................................... 13 Atmospheric conditions preceding first shock............................ 13 Time of the shocks..................................................... 13 Center of disturbance................................................... 14 Earlier shock...................................................... 14 Subsequent shocks................................................. 15 Area affected.......................................................... 16 General destructiveness of the shocks.................................... 17 Number and distribution of the shocks.................................. 17 Effects of the shocks outside of the New Madrid area..................... 21 Mississippi Valley.................................................. 21 Ohio Valley........................................................ 22 Louisville..................................................... 22 Cincinnati..................................................... 26 Other localities................................................. 27 Great Lakes region................................................. 28 Atlantic Coastal and Piedmont plains................................ 29 Nature of the vibrations............................................... 31 Classification of intensities............................................. 33 Periods of activity....................................................... 33 Relation of distribution of shocks to time of day.......................... 35 Relation of distribution of shocks to diurnal variations of barometric pres sure. ................................................................ 36 Relation of distribution of shocks to phases of moon...................... 37 Relation of the earthquake and the weather............................. 39 Direction of vibrations................................................. 40 Effect of the earthquake on life......................................... 40 Government relief...................................................... 43 Phenomena of the earthquake............................................... 44 Atmospheric phenomena................................................. 44 Darkness......................................................... 44 Odors and vapors.................................................... 45 "Light flashes" and "glows"....................................... 46 3 4 CONTENTS. Phenomena of the earthquake Continued. Page. Geologic phenomena..........................:......... ..,............. 47 Fissures.......................................................... 47 Record of assuring............................................. 47 Character of the fissures........................................ 48 Types.................................................... 48 Form...................................................... 48 Arrangement.............................................. 49 Intervals................................................. 49 Direction.................................................. 49 Length................................................... 51 Depth.................................................... 51 Fillings (sand dikes)....................................... 51 Objects swallowed by fissures.............................. 52 Distribution of the fissures..................................... 52 Situation.................................................. 52 Localities.................................................. 53 Cause of fissuring............................................... 56 Bluff fissures............................................'... 56 Fissures of the sand-blow regions............................ 57 Fissures of the sand sloughs....................... ........ 57 Compound fissures........................................ 57 Faults............................................................ 58 Location....................................................... 58 Cause......................................................... 59 Landslides......................................................... 59 Chickasaw Bluffs............................................... 59 Location and character.................................... 59 Cause..................................................... 61 Warping.......................................................... 62 Uplifts and doming............................................ 62 The records............................................... 62 Tiptonville dome......................................... 63 Blytheville dome.......................................... 63 Little River dome.......................................... 64 Other domes............................................... 64 Cause of uplifts and doming................................. 64 Depression "sunk lands"...................................... 64 Types.................................................... 65 Form and trend............................................ 66 Amount of subsidence..................................... 67 Distribution.............................................. 68 Cause of sinking........................................... 74 Extrusion............................................................ 76 Records.......................................................... 76 Character of ejected material....................................... 76 Temperature of ejected water...................................... 77 Escape of gas and water after the earthquake........................ 78 Resulting features................................................. 79 Sand blows.................................................... 79 Nature................................................... 79 Situation............'...................................... 80 Distribution.............................................. 80 CONTENTS. 5 Phenomena of the earthquake Continued. Extrusion Continued. Resulting features Continued. Page. Sand sloughs.................................................... 83 Nature................................................... 83 Situation.................................................. 83 Distribution.............................................. 84 Sand scatters................................................. 85 Cause of extrusion.................................................. 85 Undermining......................................................... 87 Fault trenches..................................................... 87 Sand sloughs....................................................... 87 Sinks............................................................. 87 Hydrologic phenomena................................................ 89 Agitation of water surfaces......................................... 89 Effect on navigation................................................ 92 Caving of banks............................................... 92 Disappearance of islands....................................... 93 Snags and sawyers. ........................-..-.. --- ----- - - 94 Floating wreckage............................................. 94 Changes in springs.................................................. 95 Action of the earthquake on forests..................................... 95 Splitting of trees................................................... 95 Destruction of forests by waves and caving banks..................... 96 Overthrow of forests by landslides.................................. 96 General prostration of forests by vibrations........................... 97 Dead trees.............................................. ......... 98 Uplifted trees..................................................... 98 Submerged forests................................................. 98 Area of destruction................................................. 98 Effect on artificial structures............................................ 99 New Madrid region................................................. 99 Distant localities......................:............................ 100 Other physical phenomena............................................. 1.01 Noises................................. 1.......................... 101 Origin and cause of the New Madrid earthquakes............................. 102 Popular beliefs......................................................... 102 Evidence of origin...................................................... 103 Location of centrum................................................... 104 Ultimate cause......................................................... 105 Significance

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