Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1871-08-21
Earthquakes In the kIssIssIppI
Valley.
From the Lakeside Monthly.I

dAtl6y.
From the Lakeside MOnthly.1
The first recorded shock in the Mis-
sissippi Valley occurred in the sum-
nher Of I776. An account of it is given
by Mr.. John HeckeWelder, a mission
ary of the United Brethren, on the
Muskingum river, in Ohio. 1t hap
pened at o'clock am, and its dura-
tiOn is said to have been two or three
minutes. "The southwest side of the
house was raised with such violence
that the furniture was nearly over
turned. 1t was accompanied by sub
teTTanean rumbling noise. The cattle
were frightened by the shock, and the
Indians continued after 1t to appre-
bend some great disaster, Of which
they conceived this TO be a pre-
CURSOR"
The next shock occurred in the year
1871 or 1872, in April or May, about Z
O'Clock am. Furniture in houses was
agitated by the jar. The shock was
preceded by rumbling 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 confined to the
northern and eastern part Of Ken
lucky. There were at that time few
settlements further west, so that, for
all we know to the contrary, it may
have had a wider range.
At three o'clock am, on the Sth of
January, 1875, a considerable shock
was felt at Kaskaskia, in the territory
of Illinois, and In the part of Ken
lucky Joining on the south. It's direc-
ton, ike that Of the preceding, was
from west to east; It's duration was
about one minute and a half. Two
other shocks should be mentioned.
One, at Niagara Falls, occurred at six
am, on the 18th of November, 1895.
II came from the northeast, was very
slight, and affected the vicinity OF the
falls over q radius Of about fifty miles.
Another occurred near the site of the
city Of Chicago, In 1904, at ten minutes
past am, on the oath of August. 1t
seems to have been quite strong
shock, though we have no accurate
description Of it. 1t was felt es far
east as Fort Wayne, in Indiana,
nearly two hundred miles distant.
As with the preceding shocks, the i'm
preston left upon the mind of the
observers was that it came from the
west. Although the last two earth
quakes were not felt over any portion
of what is properly called the Missis-
sippi Basin, they were still within the
earthquake area which we have
named from the great river.
For more than seven years after the
shock OF 1904, there Is no record fany
movement of the earth In the Missis-
sippi valley. Without premOnitOry
shocks, and without those varied
atmospheric symptoms which are so
generally supposed to indicate the
approach OF a great subterranean dis
turbance, there occurred, on the night
of the 10th of November, 1911, a great
and long continued earthquake, which
shook a larger area than any known
shock, except the Lisbon cOnvulsiOn
of 1865, and which, in intensity, was
probably not surpassed by the move
ments which produced that great
Owing to the thinly pOpu-
lated condition of the region along the
banks Of the MississiPpi-Which hap
PLY prevented this great earthquake
from producing any great loss of
human life-our accounts Of the great
phenomenon are very imperfect. This
Is the more to be regretted, inasmuch
as there can be no doubt that many of
the events Of that great eonvulsion
were without parallel in the history
of earthquakes.
The valleys of the great rivers of the |
world-at least the parts Immediately |
adjacent TO their banks-are rarely the |
seats of earthquake shocks of great Sc
verify. The Amazon, the Nile, the |
great rivers OF Asia, even the Danube,
the Pc and the Rhone, OF Europe,
have been very slightly affected by |
earthquake shocks. The course of g |
great river like the Mississippi must |
be much affected by q severe earth
quake. Without the Intervention of |
external disturbances the stream is |
wandering over the plain |
which its varying channel is |
cut. A slight accident, such as the |
of wreck, or the lodging of a |
few sticks of floating timber, may 80 |
disturb the regular system Of curves In |
which the water flows that the posi- !
ton of the banks in its course for |
miles below the point of disturbance
will have to be changed before the |
Is restored. The sedl- |
mentsry matter deposited by the over |
flows Of the stream-Which in the case
of the Mississippi constitutes the great |
accumulation, from ten to one hun |
dred miles wide, Rnd many hundred |
feet deep, through which the stream |
cuts It's incOnstant COUrse-is not a /
mass, ,butinits structure is fre- |
quently as loose and incOherent az an |
artificial filling. The settling which |
takesplsce when this mat !
ter Is consolidated by sudden and vic |
lent agitatiOns Of the mass, must |
greatly affect both the surface of the |
deposit and the course of the river. |
This irregular subsistence will doubt
less account for many of the peculiar |
which occurred during |
the shocks; while the violence of the
thus dependent upon the /
sudden consultations of the soil |
makes one suspect that 1t may have |
been centuries since the valley had /
been submitted 10 a similarly violent |