9 Jun
2001
9 Jun
'01
11:07 a.m.
In message <Pine.NEB.4.33.0106090209230.8073-100000(a)panix3.panix.com>om>, John Law
son writes:
IIRC, the largest US quake (of which we have reliable
evidence) in the
last 150 years was on the New Madrid fault in (I think) Tennessee, which
changed the course of the Ohio River. It was approaching a 9.0 R.
If it's the one I'm thinking of, I think it was the Mississippi
that was reversed. As I understand it, what happened was that
one quake created an opening between the river and a low valley.
As water rushed into the valley, the souther part of the
river ran backwards. A few days later another quake closed
off the opening leaving the newly created Reelfoot lake.
Of course, if I'm thinking of a different quake, then I've
just contributed to the topic drift. At least it's more
than 10 years ago :-)
Brian