Why Earthquakes in the East are so much more Dangerous

In the winter of 1811 a series of powerful earthquakes shook the United States of America. It was a very strange series of earthquakes not just because it consisted of 3-4 major earthquakes that happened in very quick succession but also (and possibly more notably) because of where it happened. The epicentre of these earthquakes was not where you might suspect, on the west coast, but instead far to the east, in the Mississippi valley - a place not commonly associated with strong earthquakes.

Sources/Further Reading (might take a day or two to organize everything):

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Thanks For Watching!

[DeepDive.Studios]

This took a while. The production was plagued by a lot of computer issues again :( But now that the video is done I can finally see what can be done about it - I will figure something out. Sorry for splitting this into two parts but I couldnt possibly edit an 1 hour+ video like this. I know this make the topic so far a bit history heavy - I will talk more about the science next time.

[TheTarrMan]

THIS!!! THIS RIGHT HERE!!! This is the type of content that used to be on the History/Discovery channel. This is the type of content that is missing so dearly on television. This is what they took from us. Now everything's a reality show.

[rileyallen]

Lot's of geologists chiming in, but as a historian, your use of primary sources is excellent. You've done a wonderful job putting the earthquakes in historical context.

[Sichelschurke]

Really a big shame that this channel isn't active anymore. Came into the scene with the best researched and visualised documentaries I've ever seen and than just vanished. Hope you are still doing good mate, thanks for the 4 videos nonentheless!

[SamIsLegend]

Drops 4 of the most fascinating video essays ever. Vanishes.

Hope you're ok, DD.

[russjohansen]

I have been an Earth Science Teacher for 30 years and this is some of the best content I have seen for this subject. Great Job! I look forward to part 2!

[billyjo]

I hope the creator of this is okay because this channel is top tier and it doesn't make sense that they would up and quit creating something so great.

[drizzle]

The quality of this is incredible. It's so close to being indistinguishable from a tv documentary. A proper National Geographic one at that. I don't know how many people worked on this, or for how long, but it's genuinely inspiring, educational, enthralling and enjoyable. It's amazing that this is YouTube content! I really hope this channel gets the attention it deserves.

[sarahbrown]

Sad to see this channel hasn't uploaded in so long, but even so thank you for such great content. Some of the best documentaries I've seen on youtube. I hope the creator is doing well with the other things in his life! Thanks for what you've made here :)

[rickorick]

Even as a retired emergency manager somewhat familiar with the dangers of the eastern seismic zones, I have to say this is the best briefing on New Madrid I have ever seen. I'm sending the link to some of my still active colleagues.

[davidwebb]

this is the kind of content that deserves millions of subs. Keep up the outstanding work!

[Blue_Caribou]

These are honestly some of the best produced and researched documentaries I've encountered - anywhere, let alone on youtube. Keep up the good work sir! I'm willing to wait as long as it takes for videos of this quality.

[amandapanda]

I just was suggested this video and I loved it. I have missed these kinds of historical deep dives ever since I gave up cable for streaming services. Keep up the great work!

[giancolabird]

You brought back memories of the nun in my elementary school history class telling us about the New Madrid earthquake and how the river changed course. How Missouri and Illinois residents had lost or gained land based on the river change. She was so detailed and animated I was convinced she actually witnessed the event. She had documents, pictures and stories from survivors. I doubt teachers today are so intense or detailed in their history classes. Thank you for becoming the new 'teacher' and educating the public.

[kaselier]

I've watched this video several times now. Even if there isn't a part two, I'll be happy to remember this as one of the best documentaries I've seen. I hope the creator is well.

[azuraligthfeilt]

Let's took our time to appreciate this masterpiece documentary that has surpassed most conventional television documentary with far superior visuals and extensive information packaged in a beautifully crafted video.

[MichaelDavis-zfnt]

The worst part about finding this channel is I'm still coming back a year later to watch these again hoping that one day he will return.

[kevinfealy]

Trees flying through the air because of earthquakes, even if distance and size were exaggerated, that's pretty damn terrifying. Sand blows of that size are mind boggiling. I'd love to see GPR/Sonar scans of what is going on down there, but at those sizes and depths, we'd struggle to get a full picture of it.

[NightDocs]

Yep this is going into my editing inspiration scrapbook

[pabis]

I’m a lifelong Memphian who even studied geology at the University of Memphis. We did some digs on sand blows for a class in Craighead county Arkansas in I think 2003ish.… We were 8-12 ft below current ground level for the sand blows that developed during the 300 AD quakes. It’s beyond terrifying when you realize the scale and someone points out real life physical evidence of these massive quakes. Looking forward to the next part of this video series. I know we have a better understanding of what is going on geologically to cause such massive quakes here. Great video!