A large earthquake centered near Lone Pine in Owens Valley strongly shook occupants of Yosemite Valley in March 1872 . The quake woke Muir in the early morning , and he ran out of his cabin " both glad and frightened , " exclaiming , " A noble earthquake ! " Other valley settlers , who believed Whitney 's ideas , feared that the quake was a prelude to a cataclysmic deepening of the valley . Muir had no such fear and promptly made a moonlit survey of new talus piles created by earthquake-triggered rockslides . This event led more people to believe in Muir 's ideas about the formation of the valley
earthquake centered near Lone Pine
1872 Lone Pine earthquake
John Muir