The Opelousas courier., 1886-10-30
A -
EARTHQUAKES.
AN ACCOUNT OF THE NOTED UP
HEAVALS IN AMERICA.
Famous Quakings in the Mississippi
VaIley-The Severest Earth
quake in the East-Visita-
tions i'm South America.

lteQ by earthquakes since It's discovery
in 1892. One OF the most notable was
that which occurred in 1911 near New
Madrid, in Missouri, in the valley of the
Mississippi River. That famous earth
quake, according to Humboldt, pre-
sented one of the few examples of the
ineessant quaking of the ground for sew
eral successive months far from any vol
cano. Over an extent of country stretch
ing for 800 miles southwark from the
mouth of the Ohio River the ground rose
and sank in great undulations, and lakes
were formed and were again drained.
The surface burst open in assures that
generally trended northeast and south
west and were sometimes more than half
a mile long; from these assures mud and
water were thrown, often as high as the
tops of the trees. The disturbances con-
tinued over what has since been called
sthe sunk country until March 26, 1912,
when they ceased c~oincidentally with the
great earthquake of Caracas.
The most severe earthquake that has
been recorded in the Middle and Eastern
States was that of November IL, 1865.
The shock then felt in New England was
a wave moving from either the same CEN
ter whence emanated the tremendous
disturbance that had destroyed Lisbon
the first day of the month, or from a
center whose activity had been stimu-
lated by the continual quakings that then
prevailed from Iceland to the Mediterra-
mean. This earthquake began in Massa-
chusetts with a roaring noise like that of
thunder; after a minutes continuance of
this there came the first severe shock
with a swell like that of a long, rolling
sea-as swell so great that men in the
open fields ran to seize something by
which to hold on lest they should be
thrown down. After two or three lesser
shocks there came the most violent of
all, producing a quick, horizontal tremor
with sudden jerks and wrenches; this
continued two minutes, and after a slight
revival died away. Numerous other
shocks followed in the course of a month.
In Boston the main shock threw down
many chimneys. wind vanes and brick
buildings, and throughout the country it
threw down the rude stone walls bound
ing fine farms; new springs of water
were opened, the vessels i'm the harbor
felt the shock; large numbers Of fish
were killed and foated to the surface of
the water. Nine hours afterward, at 2
O'Clock p. NJ, a sea wave, twenty feet
high, arrived at the harbor of st. Mar
tins in the West Indies.
On October 10, 1870, occurred the
most considerable shock that has been
observed in the Middle and Eastern
States In the present century. From near
Quebec the shock spread to st. John, N.
B., and thence westward to Chicago
and southwark to New York. The We
locity of the wave of shock was about
ID, 900 fret per second. The occurrence
of the shock felt at Quebec was tele-
graphed to MontSeal by the operators of /
the Montreal Telegraph Company in time {
to call the attention of those at the latter 1
city to the phenomena about thirty sec I
onds before the shock reached them. |
In California the earthquake of 1859 f
destroyed IL of the Southern Missions. t
That of March 26, 1872, was the most
that has occurred there during /
many years. Special damage was done f
In San Francisco by the cracking of the i
walls of fine public buildings. a
In Nevada the mining regions suffered Il
in 1871 by the destruction of Lone Pine a
other settlements. s
A shock of earthquake was felt in this b
part of the country ON August 10, 1884, II
at 2:05 P. NJ. There were two distinct s.
occurring within. an interval of h
q few seconds, and lasting about a o
of a minute. At the Signal D
Office the men in charge felt the shock n
2:14 P. NJ, and the advices which a.
they received from Signal Stations in a.
various parts OF the country gave reason W
IN ho1foxro that %ho ~ro - Z@. =
Ind irregular one. 1t was felt through II
! belt of territory extending from Wash HI
ngton to Portland, Me-, and from the IL
Atlantic coast as far west as Toledo. n,
Atmidnight on June II, 1886, a strange fiji
'Temor was felt at Sandy Hook and Coney fl
Stand. No shock was felt elsewhere in te
he United States, but in the West In h.
lies a pronounced shock was felt on the to
sland of Antigua the day before, at
which time earthquakes occurred in
'oictiers, France, and q terribly destruc-
i've volcanic outbreak was experienced
n New Zealand. G.
On January 26, 1882, a severe shock CT
t earthquake was experienced at Centre as
lille. CAL, preceded by a heavy shower in
f rain. a
On February IA, 1882, a shock of five ~ 4
linutes' duration was felt at Lake City, ~
'ol. The shock was also violently felt VI
t Capitol City, in the same State. &c
On December 10, 1882, two slight but nc
istinetly perceptible shocks Of earth or
Jake lasting ten seconds were felt at W
lover, N. H., accompanied by a rum 10
ling noise. They were also felt in Rol- IN
nsford, Rochester, C%ontoocook, Con- ne
ord, and other towns in that State. The q
locks travelled from east to west. ne
On January 81, 1881, an earthquake rel
sting about ten seconds was felt at ne
ath, Me-, and throughout the neighbor- tn
g country. At first there was q loud Ye
port followed by a rumbling sound, as en-
a heavy team passing over frozen on
round. Windows ratified and distinct fol
were felt. cal
On November 1s, 1873, shocks were Ur
1t in the Mississippi Valley over an ba'
ga of fully $50, 00) square miles. The On
gion of greatest disturbance was along bu
g Mississippi from Cairo to Memphis, col
I'd along the Missouri from Glasgow to IN
sxingfon. the
On September 81, 1882, a slight shock tw
felt in ST. Louis. A rolling noise FAC
followed by twelve distinct vibra- Wo
pms at intervals of a second. The first
Dratlon was the most violent. The
ock lasted about fifteen seconds. I
'ringfield and Centralia, ILL.,, expert Ali
ced the same shock. Co
There was q disastrous earthouake in mes