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1872 North Cascades Earthquake

When
1872-12-14
Where
central Washington Territory
Part of
Cascade mountains earthquake of December 1872

A magnitude 6.5–7.0 earthquake struck central Washington Territory on December 14, 1872, with uncertain precise location.

The shock occurred at 9:40 p.m. local time. Magnitude and location were not precisely determined due to lack of seismometers. Estimates suggest Mw 6.5–7.0 near Lake Chelan. Maximum Mercalli intensity VIII was assessed, with less intense shaking observed in Washington, Oregon, and British Columbia.

Sources

  1. 1872 North Cascades earthquake Wikipedia, revision of 2026-07-26

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.