“The Earthquake”
Date
1-30-1812
Newspaper
National Intelligencer
Page and Column
Page 3, Column 1
Newspaper Location
Washington, D. C.
Serial Number
974
Abstract
Felt report from Edenton, North Carolina for the January 23, 1812 earthquake. Time noted was 9:15 am (local time) Duration was 45 seconds. Effect was noted as feeling of falling or faintness. Direction of the quake was from north to south. Sound was heard described as a ‘rumbling noise like the distant thunder of great guns.” This is contained in a longer account noting it was felt in Washington with the same effect.
Transcript
The Earthquake.--We continue to receive accounts from various quarters, of an earthquake felt at the same time as that which we have already noticed, as experienced in this city on Thursday last. They all agree in comparing the sensation caused by it, to that of fainting, sickness at the stomach, vertigo, or approaching apoplexy. It is thus described in many account we have seen from different parts of the country. The following is an extract of a letter from a gentleman in Edenton, to his friend in this city: Jan. 24. "Yesterday at a quarter after nine we were alarmed with another earthquake; no mischief has been done, but many people were sensible of an indescribable motion accompanied with a sensation of faintness or falling into an apoplexy. The oscillations were from North to South and continued about three-quarters of a minute, and in some parts of the country was heard a rumbling noise like the distant thunder of great guns."
Recommended Citation
"“The Earthquake”" (1812). New Madrid Compendium Far-Field Database. 947.
https://digitalcommons.memphis.edu/cas-ceri-new-madrid-compendium/947
