The New Madrid Earthquake, 1811

California’s unique geography as a state makes it a very appealing place to call home. From the odd east to west transverse San Gabriel mountain ranges of the Los Angeles Basin, to the bumpy coastal ranges of the Bay Area, any person can find a compatible topographic terrain to their liking. California may seem to be the perfect place to live with its ideal climate and extensive geographic features. However, due to California’s location over the shifting continental plates, coupled with its enormous and also multiple faults, at any time this great state can fall victim to a seismic disaster. After examining evidence from both Rong-Gong Lin’s II Los Angeles Times article of April 18, 2016 and the NOVA videos Killer Quake ( 2006), Earthquake (2007), as well as Geologic Journey II – Episode 3 (The Pacific Rim: Americas) – Part 3 (San Francisco) and The Great San Francisco Earthquake (American Experience ~ 2005), one can take a comparative account of the three major earthquakes of California’s past. Although each earthquake was very devastating on is own; the Great Quake 0f 1906, the Loma Prieta quake of 1989, and the NorthRidge quake of 1994 each amounted to an extensive forfeiture of property and life. Each of these earthquakes created much suffering and loss. It is imperative for each citizen of this great state to understand the damage that a California quake can actually do and be prepared; for the threat of one always looms.

The San Francisco earthquake on April 18, 1906 was one of the most devastating earthquakes felt by a lot of states. At 5:15 am, this earthquake which registered at 8.25 on the Richter Scale shook San Francisco, California. The earthquake lasted less than a minute and it did a lot of destruction in that period of time. The most destructive part during the San Francisco earthquake was the fires which began after, as a result of the earthquake. The fires killed about 3,000 people and left 400,000 homeless (San Francisco Earthquake). The San Francisco earthquake epicenter was located near San Andreas fault and as a result, the damages caused by the earthquake was felt many miles along the San Andreas fault line. The city of San Francisco was known for its culture and economy, and because of the impact of the earthquake and fire, the city was in total disaster. Because of the magnitude of the earthquake and the amount of damage it did to the city of San Francisco, a lot of data and digital images have been collected so that it can be used for references and be displayed at its anniversary.

It’s 5:15 AM, and the streets are quiet. By 5:30, the streets are torn apart, and rubble is strewn everywhere. What happened in those fifteen minutes was the San Fransisco earthquake. When you look at “Comprehending the Calamity” by Emma Burke and Laurence Yep’s Dragonwings, you can truly imagine the extent of the damage and fear, even though Burke’s purpose is to inform, while Yep’s is to entertain.

John Adams and many other Federalists alongside him brought in a new law into play during 1798 that would change the way many Americans viewed the government. Adams introduced the Alien and Sedition Acts to Congress while he was the former President of the United States. The way of these Acts were simple, the first being an Alien Act which main focus was to make the United States more secure from alien (foreign) spies and domestic traitors(Citation). The second Act was the Sedition Act, which made it illegal for anyone to express any false scandals. Overall these Acts had a great impact, not only on citizens but also Congress itself. In turn because of these Acts, the American political debates during the early 1800s was greatly impacted. These Alien and Sedition Acts greatly affected and influenced the people and government of America in the late 18th century and early 19th century. \

Over more than 50 decades there has been multiple earthquakes that have been caused by the activity that takes place beneath and above the surface of the earth. For every earthquake there are various effects and consequences, these are generally not preventable but teachable moments. As we study and explore landforms we learn and better understand how today 's structures came about, what took place decades ago and where do we go from here. Thanks to the technology and inquiring minds we are able to study past events like the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and the 1964 Alaska earthquake. In comparing these two events we can get an overview of what happened and better prepare ourselves for something like that in the future.

The Earthquake shook buildings and walls to the ground. But, what came after the quake was much more devastating. Fires broke out in every direction and this thriving city became mostly ashes. People became curious and gracious in this time of turmoil and that has never before been seen in San Francisco. When all hope was lost the firefighters made a great stand putting out the fire and ending the turmoil.

The Democratic Republican and Federalist parties had a power struggle from 1798-1816, they tried to settle the struggles by having the Alien Sedition Act, the Marbury VS Madison trial, and Hartford convention. After the American revolution, America was dealing with two different

The tectonic setting for the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake was in the outermost shell of earth consisting of rigid plates that have been moving for hundreds of millions of years. Two of these moving plates meet in western California; the boundary between them is a zone of faults, the principal one being the San Andreas fault. The Pacific Plate (on the west) slides horizontally northwestward relative to the North American Plate (on the east), causing earthquakes along the San Andreas and associated faults. The San Andreas fault is a transform plate boundary, accommodating horizontal relative motions (usgs.gov).

Through 1789 to 1816, the United States faced a difficult time becoming a stable nation. England and France caused distinct problems for the U.S and the four presidential administrations who tried their best to solve those problems. However, the two presidents Jefferson and Madison were members of the republican party, they had principles and philosophies of their own that were very different than the views of the federalist. Even though both the Federalist and the Democratic-republican approached the situations in a well respected manner, the Federalist were more wise with their decisions causing both Jefferson and Madison to leave the republican party to join the federalist. The act of impressments cause Jefferson and american merchants to

Defeating the British in the American Revolution was only the first of many challenges these revolutionaries would face. Important decisions were to be made regarding the direction of the country and its government. Some men, such as Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson, rose to prominence and led the efforts to establish a stable, independent nation beginning with the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Although, after George Washington became the first president of the United States in 1790, it was apparent that two political parties were beginning to form and would remain until the end of the War of 1812 in 1815. These two parties had contrasting ideologies, including the distribution of power between the federal government and the states,

Due to the rivalry among Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson who was against all attempts that were being made by Alexander Hamilton, to strengthen the federal government through National Commerce, the America’s first parties was created (Patterson, 2013, p. 191). However, the evolution of the political parties began when Alexander Hamilton came up with ideas that he felt would advance his party by organizing followers to participate in the Federalist Party (Patterson, 2013, p. 191). Hamilton acquired the name from the party which organized the ratification of the U.S. Constitution (Patterson, 2013, p. 191). Nonetheless, Thomas Jefferson reacted to Hamilton by creating the Democratic-Republican Party (Patterson, 2013, p. 191). Also, in

In the election of 1789, George Washington was unanimously elected as the first president of the United States. While he was in office, he chose Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson as Secretary of Treasury and State, respectively. Unfortunately, Hamilton and Jefferson had conflicting views on the new American government’s power and thus, formed the first two political parties in the United States.

On April 18, 1906 at 5:12 a.m. an earthquake of an estimated moment magnitude of 7.8 hit

“I felt very at home in California, but the place is prone to earthquakes, and the one in 1944 scared the life out of me. For months afterwards, I felt that every time I sat down, I should have to put on a seatbelt.” Earthquakes are when tectonic plates slip past each other causing a “snap’. The ground shakes violently and can even crack. Though the occurrence of an earthquake is dreadful, familiarizing yourself with the causes and effects can be useful, and in turn make it less scary.

According to a study conducted Christian D. Klose of Columbia University 's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory in Palisades, New York, the quake was triggered by changes in tectonic forces caused by 200 years of underground coal mining. But even more significant was groundwater pumping needed to keep the mines from flooding. For each ton of coal produced, 4.3 times more water was extracted. The mass removal of coal and water caused an “unload” of the entire continental crust. In the case of mining, an unload is the reduction of weight in a certain area, e.g., black coal and water in a colliery. If it has enough time, the tectonic plate reacts to this unload by forming a small deformation. If it does not have enough time because the rate of mass removal is too high, a fault zone can be reactivated