Reelfoot Lake was created by the New Madrid Earthquakes, a series of 1,874 recorded tremors centered generally about 70 miles southwest of the lake from December 16, 1811, until March 8, 1812. The “hard shock” came at 3 A. M. on Friday, February 7, 1812, and the shocks were felt across one million square miles from Canada to the eastern seaboard and New Orleans. Witnesses reported furious convulsions that tore the earth and the river, while ground waves near the epicenter moved a foot to and fro, creating sunken lands, fissures, landslides, and land domes. Sand blows erupted, belching hot water, mud, fumes, coal, and carbonized wood, and these explosions, together with crashing timbers, falling riverbanks, and the cries of frightened wildfowl, produced a terrible rumbling and roar. The air smelled of sulphur and the sky was usually dark and dreary. When the savage tremors subsided, Reelfoot Lake was born, and thirty to fifty thousand square miles of land had undergone vast topographical changes, most of which are visible today. Although these were among the most powerful shocks to strike North America within historic times, few lives were lost because the area was sparsely settled. Powerful earthquakes had occurred here before 1811 and are now estimated to recur at intervals of about 600 years.