Contact: Tom Cook 406-444-1645  Release: Receipt

HORRORS OF 1959 YELLOWSTONE EARTHQUAKE TOPIC AT MHS

                It was a night that shook Montana to its core.

                At 11:37 p.m. on Aug. 7, 1959 a magnitude 7.5 magnitude earthquake rocked Yellowstone National Park country, instantly fracturing an entire mountain side that thundered down on campers down below

On Thursday (Sept. 29) at 6:30 p.m. at the Montana Historical Society historian Larry Morris will tell the chilling stories of the more than 200 campers who were suddenly caught in a human tragedy..

                The mammoth avalanche generated hurricane-force winds ahead of it that ripped clothing from the backs of those below and caused tidal waves in the Madison River Canyon. The people in its path feared the dam upstream would burst.

                As people frantically searched for family and friends, first responders rushed to the site and risked their own lives to search for survivors. Left in the wake of the terrible evening is what is now called Quake Lake.

                After the free talk, Morris will be available to sign copies of this new “The 19059 Yellowstone Earthquake” that is available in the MHS Museum Store.