The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1868-09-25
Earthquakes for the Past One Hundred
and Thirteen Years. . s.

The tremendu0uS earthquake in Peru
which is nov litterally the. sensation of the
world, is calling attention to the past MS
tory Of these terrible COMMISSIONS ofuature.
Though there may have bee, more lives
sacrificed in sone previous earthquake, we
do not believe that there is one in which a
wider district of country was convulsed,
where the terror of the inhabitants was
greater, and where larger amount of prop
erty Vas destroyed. The shocks also con-
tinued for longer period and were pro
tracted ever greater number of days,
than any of the great earthquakes Tor the
past one hundred years. 1t smote Sec
ton of six hundred miles along the Pacif
ic Coast, aud reached forty miles leland
The tidal wave was vast and terrible, aud
SO surging with an almighty strength that
it was felt as far as the Sandwich Islands,
more than one thousand miles distant. 1t
rose to the height of forty feet upon the
coast of Peru, and in its recoil it rose to
the height Of ten or twelve feet upon the
Sandwich Island.
These tidal waves always accompany the
earthquakes on the sea coast, because the
bottom Of the sea is, as it were, heayed up,
and those who witnessed the tidal wave as
it came surging over 4rico, seemed to feel
as if broad and mighty hand was press
ing from the bottom of the ocean upon the
vast mass of waters in the Pacific basin.
The following resume of earthquakes will
be interesting at the present time:
'sWhen all the details are known it may
be found to have been more disastrous than
tina. at Lisbon on November |. IT'S, when
sixty thousand people were killed, and the
city laid in ruins. The present century has
proved prolific in such COMMISSIONS of ma
ture. In 1911 the western part OF tins
country was visited by most severe shock,
traces OF which are still to be found IN the
region extending from the mouth OF the
Ohio river TO that of the ST. Francis. On
March 26, 1872, another earthquake de-
stroying the city of Caracas, fenzuela, bur
ying beneath the ruins $4,000 of It's inh2o-
iiants. From December 10. 1857, to jan
uary, 1858, the KINGDOM 81 Naples was Wis
tied by violent shocks, and the loss of life
estimated to have been about 20, 900. On
5aue 10 1858, the Mexican Republic met
with like fate. The city Of Quito, Eeua-
dor, was likewise shaken in March, 1859,
and some thousands OF lives lost. But more
recently we had to chronicle the disastrous
earthquakes in Central America and the
West Indies last October, and in the
Sandwich Islands in the beginning of
April of this year. The losse. in the West
Indies, although severe, were far inferior
to those caused by the present earthquake.
They were estimated at about twenty mil-
lions Of dollars and some hundreds of lives
lost In the Sandwich Islands the damage
done was sill less. TIE reason of this is
cear-the regions .raversed by the shocks
are about in the same ratio as to extent and
density of population as to respective lOss>
es; just "a year previous to this South
American earthquake most violent shock
was felt in the Fest Indies, and was follow
cd in October by the West India convultion.
In each case the direction of the earthquake
corresponding with the mountain ranges,
just at the line of the direction of the
shocks in the present case corresponds with
the range of the Andes Mountains 1t is
also noticeable that the most violent earth
quakes have taken place about the time
when the periodical displays of metoors
are due THAT Is about the months of
April, August, October, November and De-
cember