Object Status:
Unlocated
Accession Date:
March 19, 1812
Primary Source Reference:
Peale Museum Accessions Book, Historical Society of Pennsylvania, p. 60
Additional Source Text:
The donor was "of Georgia."
Notes:
The 1811–1812 New Madrid earthquakes were a series of intense intraplate earthquakes beginning on 16 Dec 1811, followed by an aftershock on the same day. Two additional earthquakes of similar magnitude followed in January and February 1812. They remain the most powerful earthquakes to hit the contiguous United States east of the Rocky Mountains in recorded history.
Liquifaction of sediments is a common occurrence during earthquakes. For a modern study of the liquefaction processes and effects of the New Madrid earthquake, see S. F. Obermeier et al., 1990, "Earthquake-induced Liquefaction Features in the Coastal Setting of South Carolina and in the Fluvial Setting of the New Madrid Seismic Zone," U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1504 / https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/pp1504
