Earthquakes from Another Time

The 8.9 earthquake that rocked Japan is comparable to the one that shook Japan in 1933 and was the same magnitude that shook Colombia and Equador in 1906.

North America borders along the Pacific Rim where plates converge causing the earth to move. On Good Friday March 27, 1964 the largest earthquake struck America at Prince William Sound near Anchorage, Alaska measuring 8.5 on the Richter scale. A survivor of that terrifying experience now lives in Oklahoma City.

Some 153 years earlier, the largest inland quake to strike was at New Madrid, Missouri was between December 16, 1811 and April, 1812 that Scientist believe would register at 8.0 had the Richter Scale been around to record the devastation.

The ripple effect of the quake was felt as far away as Canada and Washington, D.C. An excellent book about the New Madrid earthquake is “When the Mississippi Ran Backwards”, by Jay Feldman published in 2005. It is fascinating reading.