The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1868-05-02
THE PACIFIC
Commercial Advertiser.
SATURDAY, MAY 9.
The Late Earthquakes.

n contrast between the mobility Of water and the
immobility of the soil on which We tread, and this
feeling is Confirmed by the evidence of our senses.
When therefore we suddenly feel the ground move
beneath US, a mysterious and natural force, with
which we were previously unaequainted, is re-
vealed as an active disturber of stability. \ mo-
ment destroys the illusion of a whole life our
deceptive faith in the repose of nature vanishes,
and we feel transported, as it were, into a realm
OF unknown destructive forces. Every sound-the
faintest motion in the air-arrests our attention,
and we no longer trust the ground on which we
stand"
The time has not yet come, nor have sufficient
facts been collected for u scientific discussion of the
late earthquakes. When that time comes, we
hope that such a report will be made by observers
whose scientific training and experience have fitted
them for the task. The only object Of the writer
is to throw out some crude suggestions, and per-
laIs to call the attention of observers on the ground
u certain points on which information is wanted.
Our former earthquakes have rarely lasted more
than a few seconds, and have never been violent
enough to cause any serious damage. There is
certainly no record in history or in the traditions
Of the natives Of any earthquake Mt all approach
ing to the last in violence. If such a catastrophe
had taken place within the last two hundred wears,
the memory of it would certainly have been pre-
served by their hereditary historians and bards.
According to n register kept since 1888 by Rev.
ID. Ii Lyman, of Hilo, the scyercst shock previous
To this year, was felt April 9TH, 1871, under which
date we find the following note . Stone walls
were thrown down, plnstering cracked. milk
thrown out of pans, and water out of n pail n lit
tie more than half full. Motion undulating north
and south" This to some of our Ka-u friends
would hardly seem worthy Of being called an
earthquake ut all. Another shock nearly equal
to it was recorded February 10Th, 1894. The
average number of shocks ut Hilo has been three
OF four in n year.
The great shock OF the 2d instant will no doubt
rank in violence among earthquakes of the first
order. Great rs has been the destruction of lives
and property, il is yet small compared to what
has been caused by similar earthquakes in other
parts Of the world. 1t was well for us that the
chief force Of the shock was experienced in the
most thinly peoplod district Of the Islands. If
Ka-u had been as densely inhabited ~ Calabria,
If instead of a few fishing villages composed of
matched huts, it had comprised large cities solidly
built, with lofty ediiices of brick or stone, the loss
of life would have been appalling. The most de-
~structive earthquake of modern times was prob
ably that of Lisbon in l775, in which $4,000 peo-
pie persisted in six minutes. This dreadful shock
occurred on All Saints day, when almost the
whole population was within the churches, and
no less than 10000 persons were killed by the
fall of these ediices. The most striking example
on record of the terrible rertical shock, was the
earthquake of Riobamba in ECUADOR i'm 1877,
when the bodies of many of the inhabitants were
found to have been hurled to Cullca, a hill sew
eral hundred feet in height, on the opposite side
of the river Lican.
There are many interesting questions of 9 earth
quake mechanics, % OH which our last great earth
quake may yet throw some light, one of which is
the rate of motion of the carth-waves. The rate
of motion of the Lisbon shock was ascertained to
be 20 miles n minute, or l,750 feet in a second.
The earthquake which traversed the United States
in 1913 moved ut the rate of from 80 to 81 miles
in n minute. The last terrible earthquake in
Calabria, viz, that OF 1857, was carefully investi-
gated by Mr.. Robert Mallet, the highest living
authority on such subjects, and author of a de-
s~criptive catalogue of 1000 earthquakes. He
be from 700 to 1000 feet per second, the latter
sciDclty Gil dDOut cquii W Il ulitec IL nut
The only datum we have on this point is OBJ
tanned by comparing the time of the great shock
Mt kona, as given by the Rev. Mr.. Williamson,
with the time when it was felt here as shown by
Mr.. Flitner's clock. Assuming that Mr. William
sons watch was set to Honolulu time, We have an
interval of ii minutes for a distance of about les
miles, and a velocity of nearly IL miles a minute.
Mr.. Mallet found the depth of the force which
produced the Calabrian earthquake to be about
miles, and he believes that the maximum depth
of any earthquake impulse on our planet cannot
exceed 30i mics.
1t Is 10 be hoped that accurate observations will
be made on the depressions, upheayals, assures
and d~isplaeements of the ground, that have taken
place i'm the district of ka-u, which may serve to
throw light on the depth, direction, &c, of that
tremendous force which seems to have rent Mauna
Loa frUm it's summit to near its southern base.
The carth-fiow near Keaiwa was a phenomenon
rs terrible rs it was novel. There is some differ
ence Of opinion as to it, character, some consider
ing it merely an incident of the cal thquake, a land
slide, impelled by no other force than that of
gravity, while others consider it n real earth erup-
ton, produced by an explosion of the gases pent
up within the mountain. OF the former kind
there was 4 striking example III the great carlh-
quake of 1888 in Calabria near Laureana. 1.-The
swampy soil in two ravines became filled with
matter, which oozed out from the
ground just before the first great shock. This
mud rapidly accommodating, began ere long to roll
onward like n food of lava into the valley, where
the two streams uniting. moved on with increased
impetus from east to west. 1t now presented n
breadth of Do feet by Is in depth, and before it
ceased to move covered a surface equal in length
to an Italian mile. In its progress it overwhelmed
, flock of thirty goats, and tore up by the roots
u IL