Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1858-04-24

after the actual catastrophe In the celebrated
earthquake of Lima and Callao (2Sth of Octo-
Der, l746,) a noise resembling subterranean
thunderclap was heard, at Truxillo, quarter of
an hour after the shock, and unaccompanied by
any trembling of the ground. In like manner,
long after the great earthquake in New Grena-
da, on 10th of November, 1927, described by
Boussingault, subterranean detonations were
heard in the whole valley of Cauca, during
twenty or thirty seconds, unattended by notion
The nature of the noise also varies very much,
being either rolling, or rustng, or clnking like
chains when moved or like near thunder, as
for instance in the city Of Quito or, lastly,
clear and ringing, as it osidian or some other
yitrifed masses were struck in subtcrrancan cav
tiles AS solid bodies are excellent conductors
OF sound-which is propagatcd in burnt clay,
for instance-ten or twelve times quicker than
the air, the subtcrrancan noise may be heard at
great distance from the place where it has
originated. In Caracas in the grassy plains of
Calabozo and on the banks of the Rio Apure,
which falls into the Orinoco, a tremendously
loud noise resembling thunder, was heard, un-
accompanied by an earthquake, over a district
of land $500 square miles in extent, on April
30, 1872, whilst at u distance of 63j miles to
the north cast, the volcano of st. Vincent, in
the small Antilles, poured forth a copious stream
of lava. With respect to distance, this was as
if an eruption of Ncsuvius had been heard in
the north Of France. In the year l1I4, on the
great eruption of the volcano of Cotopaxi, sub
tcrranean noises resembling the discharge of
cannon, were heard in Honda, on the Magda-
lena River. The crater of Cotopaxi lies not on
" 10000 feet higher than Honda, but these
two points are separated by the colossal noun
tain-chain of Quito, Paste, and Popayan, no
less than by numerous valleys and cleitS, and
they are 436 miles apart. The sound was, GER
tainly not propagated through the air, but
through the earth, and at a great depth. Dur
ing the violent earthquake of New Grenada, in
February, 1885, subtcrranean thunder was
heard simultaneously at Popayan, Bogata, San
ia Marta, and Caracas (where it continued for
seven hours without any movement of the
ground,) in llayt Jamaica, and on Lake Nj
caragua.
These phenomena Of sound, when unattended
by any perceptible Shocks produce peculiarly
deep impression even on persons who have
lived in countries where the earth has been fire.
quently exposed to shocks. A striking and un-
pardllced instance of uninterrupted subter-
ranean noise, unaccompanied by any trace of
an earthquake, is the phenomenon known in
the Mexican elevated plateaux by the name of
the Roaring and the subterranean thunder
tJr0Hdiosiy trueaos suJteyTdneos) of Guanaxuato.
This celebrated and rich mountain city lies far
removed from any active volcano. The noise
began about midnight, on the 9th Of January,
l1Si and continued for month.
The great earthquake which destroyed the
city Of Lisbon, on the lst Of November, l7j5,
and whose effects were so admirably nNestiga-
ted by the distinguished philosopher Emman-
uel Kant, was felt in the Alps, on the coast OF
Sweden, in the Antilles, Antigua, Barbados,
and Martinique in the great Canadian Lakes
in Ihurlnga. in the fiat country of Northern
Germany. and in the small inland lakes on the
shores of the Baltic. Remote springs were in
terrupted in their how---a phenomenon attend
ing earthquakes which had been noticed amongst
the ancients, by Demetrius, the Callatan. The
hot springs of ropliz dried up, and returned,
inundeting everything around, and having Their
| waters colored with iron ochre. In Cadiz, the
sea rose to an elevation of sixtyfour feet, willis
in the Antilles, where the tide usually rises on
| ly from twenty-six to twenty-eight inches, il
| suddenly rose above twenty feet-the water be
| ing of an inky blacknes. II has been computed
| that, on the lst Of November, 1875, n portion
| of the earth's surface-four times greater than
| that Of Europc-was simultaneously shaken
| As yet, there is no manifestation OF force known
to US, including even the murderous inventions
of our own race, by which a greater number o
| people have been Killed, in the short space Of
few minutes sixty thousand were DESTROYED. il
Sicily, in 1893 from thirty to forty thousand
in the earthquake Of Riobamba, in 1897, and
probably, five times as many in Asia Minor and
| Syria. under LibcriouS. and Justinian, the elder
about the wears 10 and j26.
There are instances in which the earth ha,
| been shaken for many successive days, in the
chain of the Andes, in South America but
am only acquainted with the following cases. il
which shocks have been felt almost every houl
| for months together, have occurred far from
| any Nolcano-aS. for instance. on the eastern
dccli,ity of the Alpine chain of Mount Gents, n
Fenestrelles and Pignerol, from April, lS0S
between New Madrid and Little Prairie, nortl
of Cincinnati, in the United States of America
in December, 1871, as well as through the Who'll,
Winter of 1872 and in the Pachalik of Alleppo
in the months of August and September, 1922
As the mass of people are seldom able to rist
to general views, and are, consequently, alway
disposed To aScribe great phenomena to loca
telluric and atmospheric processes, wherever th
shaking of the earth is continued for Ion.
time, fears of the eruption of new volcano ar
awakened. In some few cases, this apprehen
sion has, certainly, proved to be well grounded
as, for instance, in the sudden elevation o
volcanic islands, and as we see in the elevation
of the volcano of Jorullo-a mountain elevated
1854 feet above the ancient level of the neigh
boring plain, on the 29th of September, 1853
after ninety days of earthquake and subterraneal
thunder.
If we could obtain information regarding tn
daily condition of all the earth's surface, W
should, probably discover that the earth is al
most always undergoing shocks at some poin
of its superficies, and is continually influence,
BY the reaction of the interior on the exterior
Earthquakes have even been felt in the loos
alluvial strata of Holand-as in the neighbor
hood of Middleberg and Niessingen, on tn
23d of February, 1928. Granite and mica slat
are shaken, as well as limestone and sandstone
or as trachyte and amygdaloid. 1t is not, there
fore, the chemical nature of the constituents
but, rather the mechanical structure of the rocks
which modiies the propagation of the notion
the wave of commotion. Where this wave pro
ceeds along coast, or at the foot, or in the di
rection of, mountain chain, Interruptions, q
certain points, have sometimes been remarked
which manifested themselves during the cours
of many centuries In Asia, shocks of earth
? quakes have been propagated from Lahore an
from the foot of the Himalaya (22d of January
1922 transversely across the chain of the Hin
doc Chou, to Badakschan, the upper Oxus, an
even to Bokhara. The circles of commotior
unfortunately, expand occasionally, in const
ouonca Of n siu1la and allv v;olant aarth