Earthquakes

During the winter of 1811-12, the Central States were shaken by earthquakes centered near New Madrid, Missouri, that included three of the largest earthquakes in U.S. history.

• The Seattle area sustained a magnitude 7.1 earthquake in 1949, a magnitude 6.5 earthquake in 1965, and the magnitude 6.8 Nisqually earthquake in February 2001.
• Alaska experiences more earthquakes than any other part of the country, including a magnitude 8.4 earthquake that occurred on Good Friday in 1964, the second largest earthquake in the world during this century.
• Along the East Coast, damage has resulted from a magnitude 6.5 earthquake off Cape Ann, Massachusetts, in 1755, a magnitude 7.7 earthquake near Charleston, South Carolina in 1886, and a magnitude 7.0 event in the St. Lawrence Valley in 1925.

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