Semi-weekly Louisianian. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1871-1872, 1871-10-15
Earthquake in the Mississippi Valley.

IaithquahO lii thC MiSslsSlppi sdliC!'
The first recorded shock in the
Mississippi Valley occurred in the
summer of 1719. An account of it
is given by John Heckewelder, a
missionary of the United Brethren,
on the Muskingum River, in Ohio.
1t happened at eight o'clock, A. NJ,
and its duration is asserted to have
been two or three minutes. "The
southwest side of the house was
raised with such violence that the
furniture was nearly overturned.
1t was accompanied by subterra-
mean rumbling noise. The cattle
were frightened by the shock, and
the Indians continued after to ap-
prehend some great disaster, OF
which they conceived this to be a
precursor.
The next shock occurred in the
year 1791 or 1892, in April Or May,
about Z o'clock, A. M. Furniture
in houses was agitated by the jar.
The shock was preceded by rum
bling noise in the earth, which
seemed to come from the west.
The course of this movement was
evidently the same as that of the
great shock of 1911. The region
where the shock was felt was con-
fined to the northern and eastern
part of Kentucky. There were at
the time few settlements further
west, SO that, for all we know to the
contrary, it may have had wider
range.
At three o'clock A. Al. on the 9Th
of January, 1795, considerable
shock was felt at Kaskaria, in the
territory of Illinois, and in the part
of Kentucky adjoining on the south.
It's direction, like that of the pre-
eeding, was from west to east |; its
duration was about one minute
and halt. Two other shocks should
be mentioned. One, at Niagara
Falls, occurred at six A. NJ, on the
18th of December, 1876. It came
from the northwest, was very slight
and affected the vicinity of the Falls
over radius of about fifty miles.
Another occurred near the site of
the city of Chicago, in 1904, at ten
minutes past 2 A. NJ, on the Oath
of August. 1t seems to have been
quite strong shock, though we
have no accurate description of it.
1t was felt as far as Fort Wayne in
Indiana, nearly two hundred miles
distant. As with the preceding
shocks, the impression left upon
the minds Of the observers was
that it came from the west. AL
though the last two earthquakes
were not felt over any portion of
what is properly called the Missis-
sippi Basin, they were still within
the earthquake area which we
named from the great river.
For more than seven years after
the shock OF 1903 there is no re-
cord of any movement of the earth
in the Mississippi Valley. Without
premonitory shocks, and without
those varid atmospheric symptoms
which are SO generally supposed to
indicate the approach Of great
subterranean disturbance, there oc-
Cured on the night of the 18th of
November, 1911, great and long
continued earthquake, which shook
a larger area than any known
shock except the Lisbon convul-
sion of 1755, and which in intensit,
was probably not surpassed by the
movements which produced that
great calamity. Owing. to the
thinly peopled condition of the re-
gion along the bank of the Missis-
sippi-which happily prevented
this great earthquake from pro-
duclng any great loss of human
hie-our accounts of the great
phenomenon are very imperfect.
lis is the more 10 be regretted,
inasmuch cs there can be no doubt
that many of the events Of that
grea. convuls on were without
parallel in the history of earth
Quakas.