Historic Earthquakes

Near Memphis, Tennessee
1865 08 17 15:00 UTC
Magnitude 5.00
Intensity VII

Largest Earthquake in Tennessee

At Memphis, chimneys were thrown down. At New Madrid, Misssouri, chimneys were damaged and waves formed on the river, that were like those made by a passing steamboat. The earth appeared to undulate. Felt from St. Louis, Missouri, to Jackson, Mississippi. Also felt in Illinois.

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.