The Russellville Democrat., 1881-09-15
EARTHouAKE RECORD.
Japanese Chronology Parporting to Go
 Back Two Thousand Years.

l QIdke NdlCHbdI 0i JdpAU RbI dDOut tWO
 thousand years. It is probably the most
 published We have accounts of some
 of the great earthquakes which have de-
 vastated cities in Europe, but there is no
 record going back two thousand years. | If a European record could be produced
 as perfect as that which the Japanese
 have kept it would have special interest. 1 Probably we should find that these agi- | tations of the surface of the globe were a | normal condition, and that perfect rest
 was an abnormal one. It may be noted | that during the last two years earth
 quakes have been frequent in parts of | the country where they were hardly
 known in previous years Thus, in the
 New England States there have been
 frequent shocks, and the first which old | citizens have ever known. There is no
 part of the globe now exempt from
 earthquakes unless it may be the coun- try about the poles, and as to that we have no knowledge.
 The first entry in the Japanese chron- | ology is 295 years B. c. "In the fifth
 year of the reign of Korel-tel, the seventh
 emperor, the earth in the province of 0-mi sank down, and in one night was
 changed into lake. During the same
 night Fujiyami was upheaved. This was
 the first earthouake.n The presumption
 is that this was the first of which there
 is any authentic record in Japan. We
 here have the origin of the famous and
 sacred mountain of Japan, provided the
 account is correct. An earthquake which
 made part of one province into lake,
 and raised mountain + 900 feet high. certainly ought to have an authentic | T. l.. tl,,t tat,, ,c l lifted out of the plains in one of the
 states of Mexico in comparatively mod | ern times The next notation IS about
 the year 4l2 A. D., when there was a
 strong earthquake.n Here is an inter- val of about seven hundred years in
 which no convulsion was severe enough l to make part of the ancient record, or | if So the record as now read is silent | From the year 600 A. D. earthquakes
 were frequent. Coming down to the year | 976, the record says there was the
 greatest earthquake that ever took place, | and the shaking continued for over two 1 hundred days" In the year l5l0, 1t is noted that the shaking eontin led seven | ty-five days, and during this time stone l portal of one of the great temples was ] broken down. A great earthquake is noted in 1895, during which a large tenn ple was destroyed. In 1703 'the earth shook for two hundred days in kuanto, or ! the eight eastern provinces" In l70T q
 great earthquake took place in Osaka "Men and women escaped in boats, but | they were all drowned by the sudden rising of the waves" In the southern and northern divisions of the town, 920
 dwelling houses were destroyed by the
 shock. The number of the killed in the southern division of the town was 3,620 i; in the northern, 2,33l. The number Of | the killed by the waves in the southern division was 12,000 souls, and in the
 northern. 12,030; 9 bridges were des- troyed, and the waves rolled up with thousands of ships as far as Dotrmbori. The number of the killed was counted in all at 299Sl. At this time blue mud
 gushed forth along the shores of the
 provinces of Xii, Ise, Milkawa and To- tomi. And many lives were destroyed by the sudden rolling of the high waves. Fujiyama shook and erupted. Ashes fell
 in She neighboring country. At this time Hoyeizan was created. Hoyeizan
 is parasitic cone on one side of Mount
 Fuji.
 The intervening earthquakes are not here noted, because there is no statement O1 dUN ucSttuCtlNC ICSuAl-. HI 1fpA all earthquake is noted at Takata. During
 this time the mountain slipped down, and 10000 lives were lost" During the
 earthquake 1S47 many persons were killed. In 1854 there was severe shock.
 The dead were innumerable. Those
 who dled by the high waves at Okata
 were numbered at over 6,0o0." A list of
 the towns and provinces Is given where the earthquake was the most severe. 1 This was apparently the greatest earth quake ever known in Japan:
 "ln 0sake great many ships were
 destroyed and persons killed by the high
 waves which rose after the earthquake.
 In the River Alikawa 174 junks and lS0 boats of various descriptions and about l50 persons were destroyed. Up to the eleventh day of the eleventh month 1 lS54, Dec. 30) over 600 bodies were drawn out ofthe river. Counting the over | 5000 dead ofvarious provinces there were In every part of the city buildings of various descriptions, such as Buddhist and | Shinto temples, towers, bridges, theatres, etc, were destroyed and burned. Con- sequently in many quarters of the city
 vast number of human beings died. The sea shores and river sides were damaged
 and ships of every kind were destroyed, while the men who were in them almost without exception lost their lives. In
 the neighboring countries or villages the ! damage was equally great The com mencement of the shake WAS at half
 past the 5th hour-that is, at o'clock in [ the morning of the l2th. From this | hour the shaking continued almost un- ! ceasingly until 4 o'clock in the afternoon
 of the 18th day, when tle greatest shock occurred. After this no more severe shocks were felt. Several buildings were | destroyed, and men were killed. At | Nagoya, in the province of Dwarf, the | shaking was severe on the 4th and 5th | days of the llth month Dec. 23 and q, IS54) Great numbers of houses were | destroyed, many being attacked by
 waves. High waves of about twenty ' feet in height rolled over the rice fields
 of Chitagori, and in three places large
 dikes were injured Houses at Susaki, | O-i, and Kamezaki, etc, were destroyed. l In Tawata, in the province of O-mi, ! buildings of various descriptions, such as dwelling houses, Buddhist and Shinto l temples, etc, were leveled to the ground. l The damages in Hikone and Nagahama
 were about equal. The damages at Samegai were also great. Mount Tor
 ozan slipped down, and the clear water iD the neighboTing streams became muddy. Seven or eight-tenths of kano
 and 0-gaki were also injured. More than
 one-hAlf the houses in Sunomata suffered and mud pushed forth from Assures in