Hopkinsville Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1889-1918, 1895-11-05
THE QUAKE THURSDAY.
One Man In Kentucky was scared to
x Death,

lOulSviLLE, N.Y., OcJ. Ok L MS
morning about 5 o'clock the whole of
the South and Southwest was shaken
by severe earthquake shock. Ken
lucky seems to have suffered the
most The afternoon papers have re-
ceiyed thousands of kilograms from
all over the state and the South, tell
ing of the damage done. The shock
moved from northeast to southwest
and the quiyer was very violent in
many localities, houses being demol-
ished. In Kentucky, 80 far as yet re-
ported, but one life was lost. This
was at Bardwell, where the shock was
extreme, and an old man became
so frightened that he dropped dead
| from the scare. la tn g city the shock
was severe and Of unusual duration
and many houses, large and hand
some bricks, particularly, were se-
riously damaged. Walls split and
great, gaping cracks were seen
In the walls this morning. Some fine
houses were demolished but there
was no serious personal injury.
People were greatly frightened and
rushed about the streets in their night
clothes. For the severity of the
shock remarkably small amount of
damage was done. This is the most
pronounced earthquake since the
great one that destroyed Charlestown
in 1886.
OTHER EARTHQUAKES.
The greatest earthquake in the his
tory of the United States occurred on
the evening of August 81, 1886. 1t
was felt distinctly from one end of
the country to the other, and at many
points there was serious loss of both
life and property, The wrath of the
shock, however, was vented on
Charleston, S. G. In that city thirty
three people were killed outright
several hundred were injured and
property valued at nearly $4,000, 00C
destroyed.
The shock came at $50 o'clock p
m. Its greatest force was spent in
the business portion of the city, and
to this fact is attributed the compare.
lively small, under the circumstances
loss of life. Had the residence dis
trict been swept the number of casu'
alities would have undoubtedly been
many times greater.
| Previous to this shock the greatest
that had been known in this country
began in 1911 and continued a
varying intervals until March 26
1912. It was confined to Kentucky
, Tennessee, Arkansas and Missouri
BY it the'town of New Madrid, Mo
on the Mississippi, opposite the Ken
, lucky shore, was almost wiped out
, and much damage was done at man.
other points.
This shock changed the whole face
of the country on both sides of the
Mississippi, over an area extending
from the Ohio river 300 miles south
The ground rose and sank in great
undulations: lakes were formed only
to be drained again in day or two
The surface of the earth burst open
in great assures. Sometimes these
chasms were half a mile wide, and
from them mud and water spurted as
high as the tops of trees. The in
habitants fled in terror from Their
homes, many OF them meeting death
in the assures or crushed by the fall
ing trees.
The channel of the Mississippi was
changed, and the river flowed ovei
what formerly had been dry land
This earthquake ceased coincidental'
ly with the more destructive convul,
sions which overthrow the city of
Caracas, in Venezuela, and killed
thousands of it's inhabitants.
The most severe shock that has
been recorded in the Middle and
Eastern States was that of November
Is, 1755. This shock was undoubt'
eddy wave promulgated either from
the center whence emanated the ire
mendous disturbances which de-
stroyed Lisbon on the 1st of the
month, or from center whose activ
ity had been stimulated by the con
tinued quaking that had prevailed
, from Iceland to the Mediterranean
This quake began in Massachusetts,
J and, preceded by terrific roar, il
swept across many hundreds of miles
of thickly populated country
Strange to say, however, but few ia
tilities were reported from its course
u Another great quake, that occurr
ed during the present generations
life, was the one in Calabria, in 1873
The city of Messina, in Sicily was
almost totally destroyed and it is be
lieved that at least 100000 lives were
lost. BY far the most disastrous Of
all the earthquakes recorded was
that of h26, A. D., in Asia Minor, in
which Gibbons computes that at least
25O,0O0 people were killed. The IA
nous quake by which Lisbon, in
Portugal, was destroyed took place
on the morning of November l, l755