In the early hours of December 16, 1811, most Ohio residents were deep in sleep, unaware that the primary or P wave from a tremendous earthquake was speeding toward them at nearly 14,000 miles per hour. The initial shaking in Cincinnati began only a minute and 18 seconds after the vibrations left their point of origin along an ancient crustal rift deep beneath the Mississippi River valley in the bootheel region of southern Missouri, where that state joins with Arkansas, Kentucky, and Tennessee.

In the early hours of December 16, 1811, most Ohio residents were deep in sleep, unaware that the primary or P wave from a tremendous earthquake was speeding toward them at nearly 14,000 miles per hour. The initial shaking in Cincinnati began only a minute and 18 seconds after the vibrations left their point of origin along an ancient crustal rift deep beneath the Mississippi River valley in the bootheel region of southern Missouri, where that state joins with Arkansas, Kentucky, and Tennessee. The first shock began to shake the Queen City at 2:24 a.m. This was the first of four major shocks, and hundreds of smaller ones, that would fan out like ripples in a pond, some of them reaching to the Atlantic coast and many of them reaching Ohio, for the next two months. This resource explains the effects of earthquakes in Ohio. (author/kct)

This webpage can be a useful resource for teachers in high school career-technical programs that focus on Construction and Engineering principles. It features newspaper accounts of building damages during the 1811-1812 New Madrid Earthquakes in Cincinnati, Circleville, Chillicothe, and Coshocton.

This webpage can be a useful resource for teachers in high school career-technical programs that focus on Construction and Engineering principles. It features newspaper accounts of building damages during the 1811-1812 New Madrid Earthquakes in Cincinnati, Circleville, Chillicothe, and Coshocton. The accounts can be a starting point for examining ways construction practices have evolved over time as technology becomes more sophisticated. The accounts detail how un-reinforced concrete failed in tension, and how foundation structure may have added to building damage. Student experiments with different concrete curing methods and types of reinforcement as they mimic conditions that caused the building failure. This informational page can also be thought provoking for architecture and the Transportation industry students when they try to make inferences about the impact a catastrophic event like this could have today. Government & Public Administration students will find the information useful when examining why building code restrictions are placed on building practices in areas where seismic activity is more common. (jrs)