On December 16, 1811, an earthquake occurred near New Madrid, Missouri, that temporarily reversed the course of the Mississippi River. This was actually one of a series of earthquakes in the area, one of which is estimated to have had a Richter magnitude of 8.8. The area was sparsely populated at the time, and there were thought to be few fatalities. In 1964, an earthquake measuring 8.4 on the Richter scale occurred in Alaska. Exercise (a) How did the power of the New Madrid earthquake described above compare with that of the 1964 Alaska earthquake
