 It is said one of the officials of the city who, at the time of the earthquake shock, was in the banking building, proposed to his companions that it was time to pray. This, however, he denies, as he has not prayed any for three years. On Thursday last, 11:35, two distinct waves of earthquake, with numerous tremors, were felt here, lasting, according to our estimate, about 30 seconds. The "sensation" was a thorough one. Everybody was "moved," though all were not conscious of it, and some few for a while were very incredulous. The motion, some affirm, was from southeast to northwest, others who noticed the vibrations of hanging articles, say it was north and south. The two story brick houses in the city were more perceptibly affected than others. At the brick school in district number one, the walls were cracked from the foundation up in two places, and the school children so thoroughly frightened that they rushed out of the building and could not be persuaded to re-enter it. School was dismissed for the day. A. W. Crites, whose office is in the second story of the bank building, says that he doesn't wish to be invited out to another such matinee. He could hear the grinding of the mortar and Chas. Wake, who was in the same building, declares he could see the walls move. Similar sensations were experienced at the court house, and the wall was cracked in one place. Some fear is expressed that the school house will not be safe for occupancy in a storm of wind; the damage to the court house is so slight as not to create any apprehension. Two other buildings in the city were perceptibly injured, though some of the frame ones creaked and swayed considerably. There is no telling what would have been the result if the shocks had been continued another time or two. As it was, most of our people had a slight experience of an earthquake with consequences which often attend them. Thursday, Nov. 15, 1877 at 11:35 a.m., two distinct waves of earthquake, with numerous tremors were felt here, lasting, according to our estimate, about 30 seconds. At the brick schoolhouse in district no. 1 the walls were cracked in two places, from the foundation up, and the school children so thoroughly frightened that they rushed out of the building and could not be persuaded to re-enter it. School was dismissed for the day. A Crites, whose office was in the second story of the Columbus State Bank building, said he didn't wish to be invited out to another such matinee. He could hear the grinding of the mortar, and Charles Wake, who was in the same building, declared he could see the walls move. Similar sensations were experienced at the court house, and the wall was cracked in one place. As reported by the USGS Earthquake site: Largest Earthquake in Nebraska Magnitude 5.1 - 1877 This is the largest earthquake known to have originated in Nebraska. Its proposed epicenter lies on the western flank of the Keweenawan mafic belt. Damage was most severe at Columbus, in Platte County, northwest of the epicenter, where the 30-second shock split the courthouse walls in nine places and damaged the schoolhouse walls. Two severe shocks about 350 kilometers west of Lincoln, at North Platte, cracked walls and overturned printing cases. About 200 kilometers north of Lincoln, at Sioux City, Iowa, a high school sustained cracks in a wall. Felt over all or parts of Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. |