The morning call., 1892-04-21

II appears TO be conceded that the earth
quake of Tuesday morning is The most Sc
we're which has occurred in this State since
1872. Yet it did not destroy one single life
nor demolish in its entirety one single
building. Its rayages spread over district
about thiTty-hye miles long by twenty-five
miles wide, and wholly embraced in the
valley Of the Sacramento River. The durs-
ton Of the shocks varied from nine TO
twentY-one seconds, according 10 |, cality;
their direction was from east to west Out
side o. the area OF seismic disturbance, as for
instance, at Mount Hamilton IN Santa Clara
County, a gentle undulation of The earth
was felt, but we do not hear Of any earth
wave in those portions Of the coast where
the work OF creation is still incomplete, as
Ia tie negbborhoOd Of the geysers, in the
region Of the mud volcanoes Of San Diego
County. or in the vicinity Of the extinct VOL
canoes a. the moth. The shake appears to
have been purely local and eoincideni with
the line Of the Sacramento River, which, so
far as We know. has not been a theater Of
seismic activity within the historic record.
With the gradual thickening of the earth's
crust the latent force which underies that
crus. grows less capable of disturbing Is
surface. And This branch of creation is
almost the only che which can De traced
through tie historic period. The tremen-
dous forces which upheavei the mountains,
the Influences which quenched the yolca-
noes. the march OF the glaciers. and the flow
Of the deluges which caused the drift, all
ceased to act long before human observers
were present But We can trace the gradual
subsistence CT the earthquake force since
history began TO be written. Chronology
cannot fix the period at which the
cities mentioned in the Pentateuch
were overwhelmed; but the earth
quakes which desolated Asia Minor were
continued till long after Antioch became a
center of civilization. The coasts OF the
Eastern Mediterranean appear to have been
visited by destructive earthquakes from the
beginning Of history TO the period of the
crusades. Then the force subsidized. For
many centuries there has been no destruc-
tive earthquake in that part of the world
Again, in the region which embraces the
great islands of Western Polynesia, tradi-
ton preserves the record of periodical
earthquakes of extreme violence; but with
the exception Of the earthquake of 1888 at
Krakatoa, there has been no phenomenon
of that appalling character since white men
settled in the islands. So on the west coast
Of South and Central America, the Span
iards found records OF frequently recurring
earthquakes, which compelled the natives
TO build one-story houses with thick walls
But. ii We except the shake OF 1868 at
africa and one or two similar catastrophes
in San Salvador, the slope of the noun
tains toward the Pacific has been pretty
steady for a century or two. The earth
quake at Lisbon in 1755 and the earthquake
at Charleston, 5 c.. in 1856 were sporadic
IL both cases the region affected was not
within the earthquake zone. Japan ap-
pears TO be the only country where earth
quakes continue to be marked with what
may be called primeval severity.
Coupling these facts with the evidences
which surround US Of the extraordinary
power Of prehistoric earthquakes, it seems
not unreasonable TO assume that the cause
Of Observation-Disclosures it may be-is
gradually ceasing TO operate, and that in a
period which may perhaps be measured b.
centuries destructive earthquakes will be
thing Of the past When Portala marched
north along the coast toward San Francisco,
little more than hundred years ago, be
reported earthquakes so severe that his men
Oh the march were thrown to the ground.
Certain 1t Is that no such accident ever
befeil anybody in this State ia our time.
And though the cynic may suspect that the
fall OF the Spanish troopers may have been
due to simpler causes than a CONFUSION OF
the earth, there are other proofs that in the
last century there were EARTHQUAKES on this
coast severe enough to knock down not
only men but houses aud bills. The sligh;
effects of the phenomenon Of Tuesday con.
firm the notion that that class of disasters
has gone out of fashion.