New Madrid

The 1811-1812 New Madrid Earthquakes are the most intense intraplate earthquake series to have occurred in the contiguous United States in historic times. There were numerous effects on the landscape in the most heavily affected area: some sections of the Mississippi River appeared to run backward for a short time and changed its course, creating numerous geographic exclaves, including the Kentucky Bend and the towns of Reverie and Corona, Tennessee, along the state boundaries defined by the river.