A contribution to the study of the seismicity of Missouri

Abstract

The status of Missouri as a State which contains active seismic areas has been a subject of discussion ever since the New Madrid earthquakes of 1811 and 1812. Local seismic research, however, was slow in starting due principally to the lack of available instruments to supply sufficiently accurate data for detailed work. Two events which gave great impetus to the program of Missouri earthquake‐study were: (1) The installation of the seismograph at Saint Louis University in 1909, and (2) the inauguration of the regional study‐plan which was proposed by Reverend James B. Macelwane, S.J., in 1925.

Spatial Variability of "Did You Feel It?" Intensity Data: Insights into Sampling Biases in Historical Earthquake Intensity Distributions

“…Whether or not the 1843 event is an aftershock, it was widely felt throughout the region and emerges as an important event for assessing seismic hazard. The Marked Tree earthquake caused light damage to chimneys and brick walls at a number of locations in the Mississippi River valley and is conventionally taken to be near Marked Tree, Arkansas (35.5°N, −90:5°W), although, as is commonly the case for preinstrumental earthquakes, a precise location cannot be determined (e.g., Heinrich, 1941). Nuttli (1974) estimates M 6.0 for this event, Johnston (1996b) estimates M 6.3 for this earthquake, while the more recent studies of Bakun et al (2003) and Bakun and Hopper (2004a) estimate an M I of 6.0 and 6.2, respectively.…”