Seventh graders Austin Boardman, Weston Corsbie and other members of Mrs. Sharp’s Social Studies class hang onto their desks during Tuesday morning’s earthquake drill. | Enquirer Photo: Clif Knight

Hartselle Junior High School students remained calm and did exactly what they had been told to do beforehand when an earthquake drill dubbed as “The Great American Shake Out” was conducted Tuesday at 10:15 a.m.

When Principal Don Pouncey sounded the alarm over the intercom, students quickly dropped to their knees, crawled under the desks and held on for 20 seconds. They then evacuated the building in accordance with fire alarm procedures. It was all over in under a minute and students were directed back to their classes.

The drill was conducted at approximately the same time in all five Hartselle City Schools in keeping with the 200th anniversary of the New Madrid Earthquake, which caused over 3,500 deaths and widespread damage along the New Madrid fault in Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky and Arkansas.

“We were asked to participate in this exercise with several other south central states in an effort to make sure our students are up-to-date on safety policy procedures,” said Jerry Reeves, director of school operations. “We conducted a similar drill about 10 years ago.”

Four large earthquakes occurred in the New Madrid fault in December 1811 and February 1912. Scientists estimated that three of the four were in excess of 8.0 on the Richter scale.

These quakes were so powerful deep fissures appeared, in the ground, five towns completely disappeared, lakes were formed where there had been none and the Mississippi actually flowed backwards.

The quakes also caused church bells to ring as far away as Boston and cracked sidewalks and shook President James Madison out of bed in the White House.