THE NEW MADRID EARTHQUAKE 1 



EDWARD M. SHEPARD 

 Springfield, Mo. 



CONTENTS 



General Statement. 

 Phenomena oe the Earthquake. 



Description of the earthquake. 



Features of the earthquake area. 



Fault scarps. 



Ejection of sand. 

 Associated Artesian Conditions. 



Sand brought up by wells. 



Sand brought up by springs. 



Source of sand covering surface of "sunken area." 



Relation of the earthquake to artesian conditions. 

 Recent Earthquakes. 



Comparison with Conditions near Shreveport, La. 

 Primary Cause of the New Madrid Earthquake. 

 Conclusions. 



GENERAL STATEMENT 



Several papers, recently published, have shown an awakening 

 interest in the region called the "sunk lands " in southeastern Missouri 

 and northeastern Arkansas, which, as an older writer has stated, pre- 

 sents one of the few examples on record of the incessant quaking of 

 the ground for several successive months far from any volcano; but 

 so far as the present writer has been able to find, no theory or sug- 

 gestion as to the probable cause of the violent phenomena exhibited 

 in the region of New Madrid, either at the time of, or subsequent to, 

 the period of greatest violence, has been proposed. 



During the summer of 1904 the present writer had an oppor- 

 tunity, in connection with an investigation of the artesian waters of 

 Missouri for the United States Geological Survey, to make several 

 trips into the region, in one of which he was accompanied by Mr. 



1 Published by permission of the director of the U. S. Geological Survey. 



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