The Earthquake of 1944 September 5th, 1944 will forever remain in the memory of area residents. Measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale, the quake lasted 40 seconds, aftershocks continued until Sept. 13th. More than 1,000 chimneys fell, and tombstones were damaged and turned. Oddly enough, all damaged stones south of the river turned counter clockwise, while on the north side tombstones all turned clockwise.