The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1875-12-24

eases actually fused the snbterranean$S
lakes and rivers, the reservoirs of wa.
ter which exist everywhere below the
surface. and which in Genesis are called the
fountains OF the deep, ere vapor'sed ,ano
iastantaneousIy converted into steam aud
the result of this great expansion or explo.
sion 10 the ground beneath Us Is concus-
sion or rupture of the subjacent rocky strata,
the effects OF which reach the surface, pro-
ducing the various phenomena of the earth.
quake"
These convulsions manifest themselves
eometimes by noises-geuerally by dull,
rumbling sounds occasionally by suoterra'
nesn thunder peals. In other cases the earth
shakes in harmless vibrations. In severe
shocks the earth sYells into waves of com
motion, shaking down cities; the earth
cracks and opens into chasms, which gener'
ally close at once, swallowing up men and
bui!dings-facts most suggestive of electro
city, which, so powerful is yet feettng and
evauescent. Again, it is explosive, such as
that which destroyed the town Of Riobombra
10 1910. which threw the bodies of men sew
eral hundred feet into the air. This remark.
Bile earthquake did not elevate the crust
m ole than one foot, the shock being so sud-
de n and intense that the elastic crust imme.
dia'ely responded. throwing loose bodies on
the surface to an incredible height, as if dis
charged from catspult, or like an arrow
from bow.
The writer describes at length the variety
OF effect and manifestations OF this power
full agent through earthquakes-such as the
for nations of lakes, the elevation OF lslands
in !, sea and their subsistence, the forming
OF deprs ssions on the surface, &c.
As to volcanoes, the author thinks it proba-
BILE hat the seat of subterraneau convulsions
lies near the surface certainly of all per-
NJ anent volcanoes such as Fesuvius, E!na,
Stromboli, &c. 10 such cases the subJacent
zone of electric action is sufficiently contin-
Gus and near to keep open the vent which
therwise would be closed again.
Electric action or earthquakes are more
f rtQueut IN some parts of the earth than
others. Richmond is not Included in the
ca rttquake zones marked down in the maps.
" bile earthquakes are non-eruptiye they
occasionally cause permanent upheasals-the
internal expansion in such cases not being
C compensated by the condensation OF the
elastic superjacent strata. Sir CHARLES
LYELL holds that during the artbauake in
Chill il 1922 the level of the country was
raised three feet over an extent of hundred
miles, The seat of subterranean CONFUSION
in the case of earthquakes is, says our author,
from four to eight miles below the surface.
The phenomena of explosions have some
ii mes been wonderful. The volcano of Ju.
ri Ito was thrown up to the height of seven
teen hundred feet in one day, and that OF
+ usi .yama, in Japan, eleven thousand feet
In one night. But the more general effect is
to create basins and lakes. Lske Oomi, in
Japan. seventy-two miles long and twelve
wide, was created by an earthquake, and in
Italy the Cimian and Alban lakes by the
same.cause.
We look upon this theory of the produc-
ton of earthquakes by electrical action as
the true one. The reader will find the whole
art iclc in Blocksuood very interesting.
The shock felt here Wednesday night
was the seyerest, we believe, known in
Virginia for hundred years. 1t
seems to have extended over limited
surface. The reader will find all the
particulars concerning it in another de.
partment of this paper. There have been
few earthquakes in the Atlantic States.
Nearly all that have occurred took place in
New England. They were slight, tremu-
lou' disturbances, unaccompanied by noise.
That of Wednesday in this city was attend
ed with a decided rambling noise as OF
thunder somewhat muff1ed. The severesl
eartl quake we have had in the eastern part
of the Union took place in New Madrid, upon
the Mississippi, in Missouri, in 1924. The
earth's surface underwent great changes,
and the town which bad promised we'll de.
clined afterwards to insignificance.
EARTHQUAKES last but brief time, showing
that their cause is not continuons-a fact
entirely consistent with the electric theory
Of the BlackWood essayist.