1857 Fort Tejon Earthquake
The Fort Tejon earthquake occurred at about 8:20 am (Pacific time) on January 9, 1857 in central and Southern California with an estimated moment magnitude of 7.9. It ruptured the southern part of the San Andreas Fault for a length of about 225 miles (350 kilometers), between Parkfield and Wrightwood. The earthquake was felt throughout much of California, as far north as the city of Marysville and as far south as the mouth of the Colorado River at the Gulf of California in Mexico, and as far east as Las Vegas, Nevada.
The earthquake was the last large event to occur along that portion of the San Andreas Fault, and was estimated to have a maximum perceived intensity of X (Intense) to XI (Extreme) on the Modified Mercalli scale (MM). Accounts of the events' effects varied widely, including the time of the main shock as well as foreshocks that were reported to have occurred at several locations earlier that morning.
Read more about 1857 Fort Tejon Earthquake: Tectonic Setting, Foreshocks, Earthquake, Damage, Aftermath
Famous quotes containing the words fort and/or earthquake:
“Across Parker Avenue from the fort is the Site of the Old Gallows, where 83 men “stood on nothin’, a-lookin’ up a rope.” The platform had a trap wide enought to “accommodate” 12 men, but half that number was the highest ever reached. On two occasions six miscreants were executed. There were several groups of five, some quartets and trios.”
—Administration in the State of Arka, U.S. public relief program. Arkansas: A Guide to the State (The WPA Guide to Arkansas)
“Through the din and desultoriness of noon, even in the most Oriental city, is seen the fresh and primitive and savage nature, in which Scythians and Ethiopians and Indians dwell. What is echo, what are light and shade, day and night, ocean and stars, earthquake and eclipse, there? The works of man are everywhere swallowed up in the immensity of nature. The AEgean Sea is but Lake Huron still to the Indian.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)