See Remnants of Sand Volcanoes in Missouri Caused by Great Quakes

When two massive earthquakes rocked the New Madrid, Missouri area in late 1811 and early 1812, most of the damage is only recorded in history books. But, there is still a remnant of those historic quakes in the form of sand volcanoes that can still be found if you scour Google Earth.

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I would love to say that I was the genius that discovered this, but it was actually a keen-eyed observer on the Missouri sub-Reddit that pointed out what can be found lurking on Google Earth. It's the remnants of sand volcanoes that exploded from the Earth when the first massive New Madrid, Missouri earthquake struck on December 16, 1811.

The quake was so strong it rang church bells on the East Coast and even woke up President Harrison in the White House. Plus, it caused plumes of sand to shoot out of the ruptured Earth.

They're more subtle now, but the sandy appearances on the ground shot high up in the air causing some local farmers to think the world was about to end.

Now, those sand volcano remnants look like dry farm land. Instead, they are a reminder that we live in one of the most seismically-active parts of America that will one day awaken. Hopefully, any major quake that waits in the future won't be nearly as destructive as those that caused sand to fly skyward near New Madrid, Missouri.