ST. LOUIS – On Feb. 7, 1812, there was perhaps the most notable of three large earthquakes that shook the New Madrid seismic zone that winter. The shaking was felt locally in St. Louis and forever changed the landscape of the region.
Dr. Robert Herrmann, Emeritus Professor of Geophysics at Saint Louis University, talked about the possible impacts to the river from the quake.
“So when the big shaking occurred, you know, the soil can settle, and certainly the course of the river could change. Now, what we do know is that there was a village called New Matter at the time, and after the earthquake, the village was no longer there because of the movement of the river,” he said…