Historic Earthquakes

Northeast Arkansas
1843 01 05 02:45 UTC (local 01/04)
Magnitude 6.3
Intensity V

This earthquake is the strongest to occur in this region since the 1811-12 sequence. Damage was severe at Memphis, Tennessee, where walls cracked, windows broke, and one building collapsed. The earth sank in places near New Madrid, Missouri, and unconfirmed reports state that a lake was formed and several hunters were drowned. Chimneys were thrown down at Helena, Arkansas, and Hickman, Kentucky. The earthquake was felt on the seacoast of Georgia and the Carolinas and northeastward to Providence, Rhode Island, a distance of 1,400 kilometers. The southern limit of the felt area appears to have included Natchez, Mississippi; the western limit passed beyond the frontier military posts; and the northern limit reached Iowa and Indiana.

Abridged from Seismicity of the United States, 1568-1989 (Revised), by Carl W. Stover and Jerry L. Coffman, U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1527, United States Government Printing Office, Washington: 1993.