“The Second Earthquake”

Date

2-23-1812

Newspaper

Boston Yankee

Page and Column

Page 2, Column 4

Newspaper Location

Boston, Massachusetts

Serial Number

854

Abstract

Account of the January 23, 1812 earthquake. Notes it was felt at Washington, D. C. Annapolis, Maryland, Alexandria, Virginia, Charleston, South Carolina. Notes ostrich egg suspended from ceiling with one foot string swayed 4 inches. Noted that ice cracked in the river near Annapolis and the bay(possibly Chesapeake Bay. Also notes clocks being stopped and people leaving their houses in panic. Notes at Charleston that the earthquake cracked pavement and at least one building.

Transcript

THE SECOND EARTHQUAKE. Another shock of an earthquake was felt on Thursday the 23d inst. at Washington City, Alexandria, Annapolis, and other places. The shock at Annapolis was considerable. Some of the inhabitants felt a sudden and deadly sickness, accompanied with a giddiness in the head.-The egg of an Ostrich which was suspended by a string of about a foot in length from a first floor ceiling oscillated at least four inches from point to point. The steeple of the state-house which is supposed to be 250 feet vibrated at least six or eight feet at the top, and continued from nine to ten minutes. A number of clocks were stopped, and the ice in the river and bay cracked considerably. Persons skating on the river were alarmed and terrified, and sought safety by fleeing to the shore, and some of the citizens abandoned their dwellings. There was another earthquake at Charleston the 23d ult. which cracked the pavements, and one house from top to bottom. It was reported, but not credited, that part of the town of Natchez had been sunk by an earthquake.

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