This half hour documentary takes a historical look at the massive quakes that struck the tiny frontier town of New Madrid, MO and rattled the eastern U.S. for up to six months.
New Madrid: The Earthquakes of 1811-1812 has been distributed to many PBS affiliates across the nation. Check your local PBS listings to see if and when this program will be broadcast in your area.
Beginning in 1811 and lasting through part of 1812, one of North America’s strongest earthquake sequences struck the western frontier of the United States.
However, this wasn’t California, but the Mississippi River Valley – what is now the country’s heartland.
When New Madrid was in the West
Some of these quakes were felt a thousand miles away and created Reelfoot, Tennessee’s largest natural lake.
Aerial view of Reelfoot Lake
There were many witnesses to these quakes and their detailed accounts serve to bring this terrifying experience to life.
New Madrid Woodcut
For all the technology and information at their disposal, today’s scientists still don’t know exactly why we even have earthquakes in the Central U.S.
New Madrid Fault Line
Several prominent scientists in the fields of seismology and geology provided expertise both on and off camera for this documentary, demonstrating how the scientific community continues to take the threat of an earthquake in the New Madrid Seismic Zone very seriously.
Beatrice Magnani, PhD, CERI Faculty
In 1811, there was very little damage and few casualties caused by the New Madrid quakes due to the sparse population of the Central U.S. However, an equally powerful earthquake today in this region would be catastrophic, with a global impact. We will take a look at the threat posed to a large section of the country; how much and what kind of damage we might expect if “The Big One” were to strike today.
Funding for this project was provided by:
New Madrid: The Earthquakes of 1811 – 1812 is a production of Pale Moon Media.
New Madrid: The Earthquakes of 1811 – 1812 was produced by Kip Cole and Gary Patterson.
“New Madrid: The Earthquakes of 1811-1812″ has been distributed to many PBS affiliates across the nation. Check your local PBS listings to see if and when this program will be broadcast in your area.”