Wheeling times and advertiser. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1839-1849, 1843-01-25
TIIE EARTHQUAKES

considerable philosophical interest. IT
is greatadvantage to the .progrers Of
national science to trace out and record
the precise phenomena which attend
these errslic movemcRta on the earlh's
surfuce. Ia this respect the science Of
Geology has been decidedly useful.
Mr.. Hamilton commences with n state
ment Of the time OF Its commencement
ut Nashville.
The precise time Of the occurrence
was nj so minutes past 8 O'clock, on the
evening OF Wednesday,, january 4th -
I he duru. ion of the shock was not morn
than seconds, and 1t was preceded by
the usual rumbl,ng sound, for the space
Of about ~ or Is seconds. am aware
from what have seen in some of the
papers, and have heard from others, that
this estimate OF the time will be regard.
ed by many pcrsoas, rs f. ling far short
of the truth, since they had themselves
fixed upon one and even two min
utes FOR its continuance. Those who
arc unaccuStomcd To the easure of small
portIons of time. are rarely able TO note
with accuracy the circumstances OF any
sudden pheno especially when IL
Is OF an alarming character. My expe.
rIence in such observations, leaves me
no room TO doubt the correctness of the
statement above given, and am the
more confirmed IN my belief from the
consideration that had the agitation Of
the enr.h continued as ong rs one min.
ute, it is more than probable that many
Of our dive lungs must have been over
thrown. The sensation experienced by
my selfwas such as might have been pro.
duced by the successive rising and falling
OF the floor OF the room in which was
sitting, through a space Of about l.IOrh
OF IT. inch, some 40 or SO seconds, and
then ending with motion towards the
east, about the extent Of I'm inch NV
situation was about 100 feet above the
low water mark of +he Cumberlani Riv.
er, and in the lower floor Of subsi an.
tlIl brick building On certain higher
elevations In the vicinity, the motion
was much ron9er-sufiicienI indeed
IN one instance, To cause the ringing Of
II bell, about the ordinary size oruhosc
used in steamboats, Windows and doors
II.
and, in few instances, heavy bodies wi h
small bases were overthrow. The iii
rectlon of the motion was rom West 10
East, as were those which occurred in
the years Isl II, and which caused so
much alarm at that time through all
this section of country. Ii is not un
likely. therefore, that its greatest VIC
lencc will be found to have been felt, as
It then was, in the region around Now
Madrid, 80 miles west, especially as IL
is said there are indications of like mo.
lions in that part Of the country every
few months. Possibly it may be traced
still further, and the origin be found in
the South, and beyond The limits ofthe
United States. In the year 1919, while
the earthquakes prevailed here, they
were felt with still greater force in We
nczuela, as is well known, and Iermina
ted in the destruction OF Caracas on
The 25'h Of March OF the same year
But even then the motion Of the earth.
quake, as experienced here, was from
West 10 East, as in The late one. Which
OF these suggestions may be the truth.
time only will disclose As to the We.
loclly OF It's movement, ii is not possible |
TO be very accurate. We are informed
that 1t occurred ut Cincinnati at nun
utes after o'c ock. Now, since the
longitude of that city is so much less
than that Of Nashville as To make their
clocks in advance Of ours 9 minutes and
% seconds, if the time hero was given
as above, and the movements inslanta-
neous, II must have occurred there at 4
minutes and % seconds past nino. But
the time given is minutes past 9, so
that, If there was no mistake made by
the observers, il required 90 seconds to
pass from one city TO the other. There
would seem 10 have been no mistake
there, from the circumstances mention
cd by Joseph Ray, and | am sure Of my
minutes, though there may be mistake
Of a few seconds, as | was not on ubser.
walton at the instant. A comparison Of
observations made at several places,
may enable US to decide whether it was
instantaneous or progressive.
1t may be satisfactory to some rsa.
ders to add, shat the cause Of these com.
motions in the earth is attributed To- the
expansive force Of air or Of gas, in the
interior parts. A few years since tie
escape Of imprisoned air, caused a rent
in the surface Of the earth, in the Sandy
plains Of New Jersey, and bore upwards
about twenty feet a shed and several
men who were in it asleep at the time.
IL cannot ba necessary to show in what
maRnCr these gusses may be produced,
OF in what localities they are most like.
Iy TO be found. Various chemical man.
ipulatIons in natures preat laboratorv