The weekly Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1854-1861, 1855-05-02

There are few sensations more startling
and unpleasant than that which is OCCASION
ed by even the slightest Of those movements
of the earth's surface to which we equally
give the name of earthquake, whatever may
be the degree Of their intensity, or the ma
turc of their effects. Our imperfect knowl-
edge of the causes which produce them, and
of the laws Of nature by which they are reg
uated, increases our alarm; and as we have
no sure warning of their approach, and are
their helpless victims when they come, We
may be thankful that they are not of more
frequent occurrence. They are fearful in
every way; for where they have once been
destructively felt, they leave an impression
as to the possibility of their return, which
at times, comes disagreeably across the
mind, even in our moments of enjoyment.
A writer, whose work was noticed last
month, y speaking Of Lisbon, says: "Some
traces of the great earthquake still remain;
here and there a huge windowless, rootless,
and roomless mass, picturesque by moon
light, but saddening by day /; fearful me-
mento of wrath, stands to tell the tale OF
thut terrible convuIsion. Slight shocks are
continually felt, ard when was in Lisbon,
about five years ago, were so unusually pow
erful, that some fear was excited lest re-
currence of this calamity were imminent.
The Portuguese have theory, that nature
tukes hundred years to produce an earth
quake on grand scale, and as that period
had neorly elapsed, they were frightened in
proportion. At Naples one cannot but be
conscious that the city is built over "hdden
fres;' on one side is the ever active Vesu-
vius, and on the other Solfatara, and an evil
dent communication exists betW cen them. x
Hot springs and steaming sulphur poison
the air everywhere; but at Lisbon no such
signs exist; here is nothing but soil proli-
| fic beyond measure---no streams OF lava--no
hills of calcined stones, thrown up fifteen
hundred feet IN one night Gas the Monte
| Nuovo, near Naples)--no smoking cfaters---
|
no boiling water struggling into day. Still
the belief that Lisbon will again be destroy.
ed by similar throe Of nature is prevalent.
and perpetuated year after year by the re-
currence of slight shocks"
In treating Of earthquakes, we cannot seek
our materials in the remoter periods Of his
tory. ,v.gr.sa5ass7 -,a re-.
1t is remarkable that in the records of the
Old Testament there are only, believe,
three passages in which they are mentioned.
One Of them is part of the well-known des-
cription Of the appearances attending the
revelation Of the Almighty will to Elijah
The others refers to the one event Of an eurth.
quake in the days ofUzziah, King Of Judah,
not quite eight hundred years B, c.; and
from the language in which it is alluded to.
We may infer that such convulsons were
then OF unusual occurrence. 9.
It is in comparatively modern times that
Ssf y ,3s- !, z,ozs. The old ,,sfa{a.y Fs rse
And crazy earth has mad her shaking fits
More frequent.
When they are mentioned by the classi-
cal writer's Of antiquity, it is generally with
out any detailed notices Of their phenomena,
and in connection with other Incidents.
Thucydides speaks Of their frequency in
Greece during the Peloponnesian war, re-
markable efFects--chiehy the destruction 9.
life and buildings occasioned by inunda tions
OH the coast; and he modestly suggests! thut
ain his own opinion" the shock drives the
see back, and this suddenly coming on sgain