A series of powerful intraplate earthquakes centered near New Madrid, beginning with a shock of estimated moment magnitude 7.2 to 8.2 on 16 December 1811 and followed by further major events in January and February 1812. They remain the most powerful earthquakes recorded in the contiguous United States east of the Rocky Mountains, felt strongly across roughly 50,000 square miles and moderately across nearly a million square miles, far larger than the felt area of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.
Facts
Disputed
Magnitude or ScaleEstimated moment magnitude 7.2 to 8.2 for the initial shock 1 Death TollUnknown; the sparsely settled frontier region left no reliable casualty count 1 Event DateThe first and largest shock; further major events followed in January and February 1812. LocationNew Madrid, in what is now Missouri, then Louisiana Territory 1 Cross-Tradition Connections
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