Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1886-09-03
FRIGHTFUL EARTHQUAKEl
II Shakes Up Large Portion or the
United States !
Charleston, S. c., Almost Totally De-
strOyedl
Almost Every City and Town East OF
the Mississippi Felt the shockI


The fightful earthquake that shook up
vast area Of the Uuiied States on Tuesday nigh
has also furnished a wide Rell for speculation
in thought and apprehension. We have mly
space tor few Of lac dispatches. such as give
general idea Of the distraction oi lite and
property in Charleston aud Vicinity. The dis.
patches confirm aud say all has not been told in
regard ~ tho dcsoIatioi aud ruin produced
CnARLEsToS, Sept a. Owing to the dcmor
allied condition Of everything here, il is impos.
sible to give correc, facts farther than this
the number Of casualties has not ye, been as
ccttaincd prabably from thirty to forty killed
and over one hundred injored. The luss to pro
perty will probably reach SIS, 900 900 or $40.
600 900. Threo-fourths Of the buildings In tn.
city will have to be rebuilt. There was very
little shipping in port aud none Of il was injur-
ed. The Disturbances have not at all affected
the water u the harbor although 1t is evident
that all shocks came from southoastcrly di-
rcctou. and therefore from the sea. There are
no signs OF a tidal wave MS yet,
ConuMBiA, s. g., Sept. 2-At giS Tuesday
night this city WAS visited by a terrible earth
qnake. The first two shocks were fearful
Buildings swayed from side to side and the
earth arose and fell like tho waves of the ocean
People rushed madly from their homes into the
streets, some spraug from windows and were
injured. The experience of those In buildings
at the time of the first shock was tn at of being
rocked as II in ship at sea.
Many Of the most substantial buildings were
shaken 10 their founda tons, the walls cracked
nd sprung. Five minutes after the first shock
a second came. Ten minutes third. Others
followed uniil laos A. N. when tue eighth was
lelt aud this one lasted for minute and a half,
Al O'Clock Wednesday morning the ninth
ahock came aud at 9;l0 aud at 1920 A. N. the
sity was again made TO tremble. Very little
sleep was had by any Of the inhabitants OF Col.
umbia, Tuesday night, and they held prayer
meetings on the street corners. All commun.
icatinn was cut of with Charleston, 8. G. until
y O'Clock Wednesday morning, when the South.
ern Telegraph Cos. line was opened and the
terrible news came that that city had been
nearly demolished.
From Charleston raports came that nearly
q hundred lives were lost.
Summerville, forishing town 20 miles from
Charleston, it is reported, has been nearly
destroyed.
WASHINGTON, Sept. 1.-Profesor Mend
enhnll, of the signal service, who has made
study of earthquakes for years, and has
felt the shock OF number Of severe ones
in Japan, says that of last night, while
not especially severe was nevertheless the
worst lie ever experienced in this country.
He expresses surprise nj the wide extent of
the phenomenon, and thinks it likely that
when the reports are all IN it will be found
that the area affected is larger than that OF
any other previous earthquake of which
there is a record. Upon globe ten inches
in diameter one can usually cover the area
OF an earihqnake-even severe one
with the end oil his little finger; but tins
one seems TO have affected half conli-
nent and we don't know how much more.
New YORK, Sept. 1.-Those who have
lived in countries subject to earthquakes
state that the atmospheric conditions here
have been such that IN those countries the
inhabitants would have known that an
earthquake was impending. Mr.. Thomas
K. Taltavall, of the Associated Press, has
spent number Of years in Spain and
Portugal. Daring the past few days he
has frequently remarked TO your CORE.
pondent that an Earthquake was coming"
He gave as his reasons for thinking this
the peculiar steady appearance OF the sky
and the long continued dronths. He states
that in Spain these dry spells and misty
leaden mornings always preceded earth
disturbances.
Major Powell, OF the geological survey,
says that there is II line of weakness in
the crust OF the earth beginning some
where south of Raleigh, N. c., and ex-
tending in line along the ti,lewater past
Richmond, Washington, Baltimore, and
Troy, N, Y. that this line of weakness
is marked by a displacement, in some
places this displacement being llecture in
The rocks, in other places fault; and in
the neiglborlood of this displacement are
faund the principal waterfalls which con-
stitute the waters of the Atlantic slope.
at will he interesting" he adds, to dis
cover the relations of the point os origin
OF this earthquake TO this line of displace-
ment of weakness"