The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1884-10-30
EARTHQUAKES in England.

which the wave of disturbance has
travelled has in every instance been
found to be from southwest to north
east, and the region affected has usually
had its greatest extension in the same
direction. 1t has been suggested that
the center of disturbance thus indicated
is the submarine region between the
Azores, Teneriffe, and the Cape Ferd
Island-a region which has been re-
garded as the principal source of the
chief European earthquakes. In the
great Lisbon earthquake, for instance,
the wave of disturbance came from this
volcanic region in the western seas.
And it has been held by some of our
ablest Vulcanologists that nearly all, if
not all, the regions of disturbance in
Southern Europe communicate with the
region under the Atlantic.
The earliest British earthquake of
which any record has reached us is that
which, according to Wendover, shook
the whole of England in 974. Proba-
bly, in those days a few scattered reports
of earth throes from places tolerable far
apart would do duty as evidence of an
earthquake shaking all England. As
suredly Wendover had not satisfactory
evidence from all parts of England; and
from what we know later earth
quakes it is probable that that of 974
was limited to much smaller region
than this accountwould seem to suggest.
In the earthquake of 1881 heavy bel
lowing. according to one chronicler,
was heard throughout the length and
breadth of England, and in like man
ner the accounts of the earthquake of
1889 indicate, with similar want of pre-
cision, most probably, disturbance
affecting the whole country-''a mickle
earth-stlrring over all England. The
unscientific observers of the day attrib-
uted the late harvest of that year to the
earthquake.
A severe earthquake was felt IN the
western and midland parts of England
in lilo. The valley of the river Trent
must have boon very violently shaken,
for the river was dried up at Noting
ham, and SO remained, according to
the chronicler, s'from morning to the
third hour of the day, insomuch that
MEME walked drye-shodde' through
its channel. This shock may probably
have beer due to remote disturbance
of great violence, for it has been OBJ
served that when England has been
slightly shaken by the effects of dis
tant earth-shock the waters in the
| rivers and lakes have often shown the
most marked effects of the disturbance.
The twelfth and thirteenth centuries
were remarkably proliticin great earth
quakes in the British Isles. Passing
over the widely felt earthquake of 1888,
there was an earthquake of great vio-
| lence in 1165. 1t was felt in the eastern
counties, and apparently belonged to
the same set of earthquakes as that
which was felt so sharply last April in
Essex. Matthew Paris tells us that in
| Ely, Norfolk and Suffolk this earth
| quake threw men to the ground and
rang the bells. It does not seem TO
have fully relieved the pent-up forces
| beneath the eastern counties, for only
twenty years later there occurred an
| earthquake in which old Lincoln Ca
thedral was thrown down, and mucn
distraction wrought in Lincolnshire and
neighboring counties. Two years later
another violent earthquake was expert
enced in the eastern parts of England
and many strong buildings were thrown
down. 1t seems likely that during the
next ten or twenty years we may have
| similar evidence that single earth.
quake is insufficient to relieve the east
ern earthquake region of England. In the
years of 1247 and 1913 two remarkable
earthquakes occurred, one in the east
the other in the west of England, a;
though mighty subterranean oscilla
ton had slowly taken place, throwing
the line of disturbance over from cas-
to west. In the former year, according
to Matthew Paris, many buildings OF
the banks of the Thames were flung tt
the ground. He adds that "a few days
after, the sea became unnaturally calm
as if the tides had ceased, and So re
| manned for about three months" Bu
it is very unlikely that the earthquake
had anything to do with this oceanic
anomaly. In the western earthquake
of 1913 the destruction wrought was
greater than in any modern British
earthquake. The Cathedral of St
David's was partially destroyed; a part
| of the tower of Wells Cathedral wa:
flung down and fell through the roof
several churches in Somersetshire were
seriously damaged, wide rents being
apparent in the walls.
But the earthquake of September
1875, was still more destructive. VIZ
are told by Matthew of Westminster
that the church of st. Michael of the
Hill, outside Glastonbury, was levellee
to the ground by the violence of the
earthquake. Many otherlarge churches
were destroyed or greatly injured.
| Those who recognize or imagine. I
connection between the earthquakes il
Great Britain and the movements oc
curing within the volcanic region o
Southern Europe remark that during
all the time that England was thus dis
turbed, the region of which Vesuvius il
the principal outlet had been quiescent
1t is perhaps rather convenient for tht
theory of connection between British
earthquakes and the Vesuvian volcanic
region that we may recognize evidence
in favor of the theory whether disturb
ance in one region synchronizes with
disturbances in the other, or, on tht
other hand. with time when the otheI
region is unusually quiescent. Yet i
must be admitted that even the appar
emily contradictory forms of evidence
| f,.ov,, ~ "