Download or read book The Lost History of the New Madrid Earthquakes written by Conevery Bolton Valencius and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2013-09-25 with total page 471 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From December 1811 to February 1812, massive earthquakes shook the middle Mississippi Valley, collapsing homes, snapping large trees midtrunk, and briefly but dramatically reversing the flow of the continent’s mightiest river. For decades, people puzzled over the causes of the quakes, but by the time the nation began to recover from the Civil War, the New Madrid earthquakes had been essentially forgotten. In The Lost History of the New Madrid Earthquakes, Conevery Bolton Valencius remembers this major environmental disaster, demonstrating how events that have been long forgotten, even denied and ridiculed as tall tales, were in fact enormously important at the time of their occurrence, and continue to affect us today. Valencius weaves together scientific and historical evidence to demonstrate the vast role the New Madrid earthquakes played in the United States in the early nineteenth century, shaping the settlement patterns of early western Cherokees and other Indians, heightening the credibility of Tecumseh and Tenskwatawa for their Indian League in the War of 1812, giving force to frontier religious revival, and spreading scientific inquiry. Moving into the present, Valencius explores the intertwined reasons—environmental, scientific, social, and economic—why something as consequential as major earthquakes can be lost from public knowledge, offering a cautionary tale in a world struggling to respond to global climate change amid widespread willful denial. Engagingly written and ambitiously researched—both in the scientific literature and the writings of the time—The Lost History of the New Madrid Earthquakes will be an important resource in environmental history, geology, and seismology, as well as history of science and medicine and early American and Native American history.
Download or read book When the Mississippi Ran Backwards written by Jay Feldman and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2007-11-01 with total page 330 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From Jay Feldmen comes an enlightening work about how the most powerful earthquakes in the history of America united the Indians in one last desperate rebellion, reversed the Mississippi River, revealed a seamy murder in the Jefferson family, and altered the course of the War of 1812. On December 15, 1811, two of Thomas Jefferson's nephews murdered a slave in cold blood and put his body parts into a roaring fire. The evidence would have been destroyed but for a rare act of God—or, as some believed, of the Indian chief Tecumseh. That same day, the Mississippi River's first steamboat, piloted by Nicholas Roosevelt, powered itself toward New Orleans on its maiden voyage. The sky grew hazy and red, and jolts of electricity flashed in the air. A prophecy by Tecumseh was about to be fulfilled. He had warned reluctant warrior-tribes that he would stamp his feet and bring down their houses. Sure enough, between December 16, 1811, and late April 1812, a catastrophic series of earthquakes shook the Mississippi River Valley. Of the more than 2,000 tremors that rumbled across the land during this time, three would have measured nearly or greater than 8.0 on the not-yet-devised Richter Scale. Centered in what is now the bootheel region of Missouri, the New Madrid earthquakes were felt as far away as Canada; New York; New Orleans; Washington, DC; and the western part of the Missouri River. A million and a half square miles were affected as the earth's surface remained in a state of constant motion for nearly four months. Towns were destroyed, an eighteen-mile-long by five-mile-wide lake was created, and even the Mississippi River temporarily ran backwards. The quakes uncovered Jefferson's nephews' cruelty and changed the course of the War of 1812 as well as the future of the new republic. In When the Mississippi Ran Backwards, Jay Feldman expertly weaves together the story of the slave murder, the steamboat, Tecumseh, and the war, and brings a forgotten period back to vivid life. Tecumseh's widely believed prophecy, seemingly fulfilled, hastened an unprecedented alliance among southern and northern tribes, who joined the British in a disastrous fight against the U.S. government. By the end of the war, the continental United States was secure against Britain, France, and Spain; the Indians had lost many lives and much land; and Jefferson's nephews were exposed as murderers. The steamboat, which survived the earthquake, was sunk. When the Mississippi Ran Backwards sheds light on this now-obscure yet pivotal period between the Revolutionary and Civil wars, uncovering the era's dramatic geophysical, political, and military upheavals. Feldman paints a vivid picture of how these powerful earthquakes made an impact on every aspect of frontier life—and why similar catastrophic quakes are guaranteed to recur. When the Mississippi Ran Backwards is popular history at its best.
Download or read book Disaster Deferred written by Seth Stein and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2010 with total page 298 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the winter of 1811-12, a series of large earthquakes in the New Madrid seismic zone-often incorrectly described as the biggest ever to hit the United States-shook the Midwest. Today the federal government ranks the hazard in the Midwest as high as California's and is pressuring communities to undertake expensive preparations for disaster. Disaster Deferred revisits these earthquakes, the legends surrounding them, and the predictions of doom following in their wake. Seth Stein clearly explains the techniques seismologists use to study Midwestern quakes and estimate their danger. Detailing how limited scientific knowledge, bureaucratic instincts, and the media's love of a good story have exaggerated these hazards, Stein calmly debunks the hype surrounding such predictions and encourages the formulation of more sensible, less costly policy.
Download or read book The New Madrid Earthquake written by Myron L. Fuller and published by . This book was released on 1992 with total page 146 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Convulsed States written by Jonathan Todd Hancock and published by UNC Press Books. This book was released on 2021-02-17 with total page 205 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The New Madrid earthquakes of 1811–12 were the strongest temblors in the North American interior in at least the past five centuries. From the Great Plains to the Atlantic Coast and from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, a broad cast of thinkers struggled to explain these seemingly unprecedented natural phenomena. They summoned a range of traditions of inquiry into the natural world and drew connections among signs of environmental, spiritual, and political disorder on the cusp of the War of 1812. Drawn from extensive archival research, Convulsed States probes their interpretations to offer insights into revivalism, nation remaking, and the relationship between religious and political authority across Native nations and the United States in the early nineteenth century. With a compelling narrative and rigorous comparative analysis, Jonathan Todd Hancock uses the earthquakes to bridge historical fields and shed new light on this pivotal era of nation remaking. Through varied peoples' efforts to come to grips with the New Madrid earthquakes, Hancock reframes early nineteenth-century North America as a site where all of its inhabitants wrestled with fundamental human questions amid prophecies, political reinventions, and war.
Download or read book The New Madrid Earthquakes written by James L. Penick and published by University of Missouri Press. This book was released on 1981 with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Previously published as: The New Madrid earthquakes of 1811-1812.
Download or read book The New Madrid Earthquake written by Myron L. Fuller and published by Care Publications. This book was released on 1993-07 with total page 138 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is an unabridged reprint of the first book and first thorough scientific work ever published on the great New Madrid earthquakes of 1811-12. The winter of 1811-12 experienced the greatest burst of seismic energy in the history of the original 48 states. Geologist, Myron Fuller, spent several years in the field between 1900-1905 scouting the New Madrid fault zone on foot and on horseback, mapping the consequences of these giant cataclysms that had so permanently and so profoundly changed the landscape of this region 90 years before. Originally published by the U.S. Geological Survey, this book is the starting point for all serious researchers on these world-class temblors. Foreword to this 1995 printing is by seismologist, David Stewart, Ph.D.
Download or read book On Shaky Ground written by Norma Bagnall and published by University of Missouri Press. This book was released on 1996-03 with total page 129 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Describes the severe earthquake which changed the course of the Mississippi River in several places, destroyed timberlands, drained swamps, and formed lakes.
Download or read book Memphis 7 9 revised written by Sam Penny and published by Twopenny Publications. This book was released on 2005-06-07 with total page 286 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Feel the power of the earth as the New Madrid Fault once again fractures, just like it did 200 years ago, but today with 32,000,000 people at risk. This is the story of some who survive the worst catastrophe that could strike the central United States and destroy 10% of the nation's economy.
Download or read book New Madrid Earthquake written by Bobby Akart and published by Independently Published. This book was released on 2020-11-13 with total page 460 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the not too distant past, along the Mississippi River, North America tried to tear itself in half. It failed. It won't the second time. New Madrid. A standalone disaster thriller from international bestselling author, Bobby Akart, one of America's favorite storytellers, who has delivered up-all-night thrillers to readers in 245 countries and territories worldwide. "Akart is a master of suspense, keeping us on the edge of our seats. But, he does it with fact-based fiction that would scare even the most hardened readers." Two hundred years ago, several faults within the New Madrid seismic zone along the Mississippi River ruptured triggering some of the largest earthquakes in American history. The three massive quakes ripped open America's Heartland, shaking residents as far away as New York City and Washington, DC while ringing church bells in Boston and Charleston, South Carolina. "No one can research like Bobby Akart and then turn this meticulous research into one exciting thrill ride." Akart's standalone novel, New Madrid, is based on actual events. It just hasn't happened yet, until now. 200 years later after the historic quake sequence of 1811-12, it's reawakened. "This is a story of fortitude and love for family - do you have what it takes to survive and make it back to your loved ones." The New Madrid fault zone, six times larger than the San Andreas in California, has generated a series of massive earthquakes thrusting the Atwood and Chandler families in a fight to survive. Attorney Jack Atwood and his brother-in-law Tony Chandler are winding up their year-end tax planning presentation atop The Met, a skyscraper in St. Louis, before returning to Memphis for their family's Christmas celebration. Jill Atwood, her daughter Emily and teenage son Tate, are in a downtown Memphis performing arts theater attending the dress rehearsal for Emily's Christmas pageant. Beth Chandler, 28 weeks pregnant, together with her 3-year old autistic son, are traveling from Louisiana to join the rest of the family in Memphis. Will they arrive for Christmas? Will they arrive at all? Their lives are about to change forever. "You are there. Feeling what they feel. Anger, joy, love, mourning. You feel it all. Not everyone can write a book like this. It takes a special writer to make you feel a book." Bobby Akart has delivered intense, up-all-night thrillers causing you to whisper just one more chapter until the end.
Download or read book Magnitude 8 written by Philip L. Fradkin and published by Henry Holt and Company. This book was released on 2014-02-04 with total page 452 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Magnitude 8 is the archetypal natural disaster defined. To understand the cataclysmic earthquake that will tear California apart one day, Philip L. Fradkin has written a dramatic history of earthquakes and an eloquent guide to the San Andreas Fault, the world's best-known tectonic landscape. The author includes vivid stories of earthquakes elsewhere: in New England, the central Mississippi River Valley, New York City, Europe, and the Far East. Always, he combines human and natural drama to place the reader at the epicenter of the most instantaneous and unpredictable of all the Earth's phenomena. Following the San Andreas Fault from Cape Mecino to Mexico--canoeing the fault line in northern California and walking underground through the Hollywood fault--noted environmental historian Philip L. Fradkin reclaims the human dimensions of earthquakes from the science-dominated accounts.
Download or read book New Madrid written by Mary Sue Shy Anton and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 332 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: New Madrid: A Mississippi River Town in History and Legend focuses on the hearts and minds of a restless population as it moved west into the Mississippi River Valley in the 1800s. The river-port town of New Madrid, Missouri, strategically located just below the junction of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, and destined to be the capital of "New Spain," was en route for thousands of early Americans. New Madrid's pioneers reveal their past and their stories through letters, newspapers, official records, and other sources. The author takes the reader through the town's history, recounting tales of legendary people whose lives crossed with those of area residents. Lively illustrations, photographs, and maps enhance the stories, a treasure for anyone whose ancestors experienced the westward movement, participated in the Civil War, were slave-owners, slaves, or American Indians, or for those who are curious about American life in earlier times.
Download or read book The Angry Earth written by Sally Watson and published by Booklocker.com. This book was released on 2009-10-28 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1811, New Madrid, Missouri was shattered by a series of massive earthquakes. For weeks, the shocked citizens coped with a world gone mad. They all changed, fell apart, and endured. This is a fictionalized account of the true story of a family and a town who faced the terror and hardship of unthinkable, prolonged natural violence with courage, love, and even humor.
Download or read book Earthquake Information Bulletin written by and published by . This book was released on 1980 with total page 40 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Intraplate Earthquakes written by Pradeep Talwani and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2014-04-24 with total page 351 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Intraplate earthquakes occur away from tectonic plate boundaries: their locations are difficult to predict, risking huge damage and loss of life. The 2001 Bhuj earthquake (featured in this book) was the largest intraplate earthquake for three decades and has provided unique insight into these events. This cutting-edge book brings together research from international leading experts in the field. Each chapter provides a comprehensive review of these earthquakes in a different global location, ranging from Australia, China, India and the Sea of Japan, to Western Europe, Brazil, New Madrid (Central USA), and Eastern Canada. They explore similarities and differences between regional features and the mechanical models required to explain them, as well as assessing geophysical techniques used to investigate them. Providing the first global overview of intraplate earthquakes, this is an essential book for academic researchers and professionals in seismology, tectonics, tectonophysics, geodesy, structural geology, earthquake dynamics, geophysics, and structural engineering.
Download or read book Geology in the Siting of Nuclear Power Plants written by Allen W. Hatheway and published by Geological Society of America. This book was released on 1979 with total page 269 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Earthquakes written by Yan Y. Kagan and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2013-12-18 with total page 358 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is the first comprehensive and methodologically rigorous analysis of earthquake occurrence. Models based on the theory of the stochastic multidimensional point processes are employed to approximate the earthquake occurrence pattern and evaluate its parameters. The Author shows that most of these parameters have universal values. These results help explain the classical earthquake distributions: Omori's law and the Gutenberg-Richter relation. The Author derives a new negative-binomial distribution for earthquake numbers, instead of the Poisson distribution, and then determines a fractal correlation dimension for spatial distributions of earthquake hypocenters. The book also investigates the disorientation of earthquake focal mechanisms and shows that it follows the rotational Cauchy distribution. These statistical and mathematical advances make it possible to produce quantitative forecasts of earthquake occurrence. In these forecasts earthquake rate in time, space, and focal mechanism orientation is evaluated.
