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Charleston, Missouri earthquake shakes the central United States

When
1895
Where
near Charleston, Missouri
Episodes
1

The 1895 Charleston earthquake, known as the Halloween earthquake, occurred on October 31 near Charleston, Missouri. It was the largest event in the New Madrid Seismic Zone since 1812, causing substantial damage across multiple states and creating visible geological features like sand volcanoes.

Episodes

  1. 1895-10-31 · near Charleston, MissouriThe Halloween Earthquake

    On October 31, 1895, at 05:07 CST, an earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 6.6 struck near Charleston, Missouri, damaging virtually every building in the city and reshaping nearby Henson Lake.

Background and detail

Background. The New Madrid Seismic Zone is a major intraplate seismic region in the Southern and Midwestern United States. While the 1895 event is associated with this zone, its epicenter was specifically near Charleston, Missouri. The zone has produced frequent smaller earthquakes since 1812, though the 1895 event was the largest recorded in the contiguous United States since the 1812 earthquakes.

Damage and Effects. The earthquake caused substantial property damage in Missouri, Illinois, Ohio, Alabama, Iowa, Kentucky, Indiana, and Tennessee. In Charleston, virtually every building was damaged, and sand volcanoes were created. A pier on the Cairo Rail Bridge cracked, and the civic building in Henderson, Kentucky, was damaged. The event was felt in 23 states.

Geological Features. Visible signs of the quake include the expansion of Henson Lake south of Charleston. The event is part of the New Madrid fault system, which has the potential to produce large earthquakes. Studies suggest the seismic activity in the zone is a young feature, possibly with short periods of activity interspersed with long periods of dormancy.

Sources

  1. 1895 Charleston earthquake Wikipedia, revision of 2026-10-11
  2. Charleston, Missouri Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-10
  3. New Madrid seismic zone Wikipedia, revision of 2026-06-30

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.