Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1895-10-23
GREAT QUAKE
SEVERE EARTH TREMORS II
THE UNITED STATES.
Old Lakes Drained and New Ones
Created - California; Disturb
ance-Charleston's Terrible
Visitation In 1886.

OHkSeu otbtS6 uuIlhS viz
present century" said Pro-
fessor Gilbert, the geologist, to a
writer for the Washington Star. "One
that was very remarkable occurred in
1911 and 1912 near the head of the
delta Of the Mississippi. 1t embraced
q number of severe shocks at short
intervals during several months. In
fact, the disturbance lasted about two
years. The ground was moved in
visible waves, by which the trees of
the forests were rocked. and in some
cases uprooted, their branches being
SO entangled that it was impossible to
separate them.
"Great cracks in the earth yawned
and closed again at each shock, while
from the assures mud was thrown into
the air so violently as to lodge in the
branches of trees. Some lakes were
drained by the escape of their water
into the chasms which were opened,
while others were created by the sink
ing of the lsnd. One great sunken
area thus produced was eighty miles
long by thirty-five miles broad.
"The other two big quakes to which
I refer occurred so lately as to be re-
membered by the present generation.
One of them happened in the 1nyou
Valley of California. If was caused by
a renewed movement on what we ge-
ologists would call q great fault-plane
at the eastern base of the Sierra Ne
vada Mountains. In that part of the
world there is extensive faultlng' In
the structure of the mountain ranges,
each range consisting of one or more
huge blocks of rock bounded by faults
and lifted above its neighbors. A
fault is made by the sinking of one
mass of rock in such a manner as to
change the relation of its elevation to
that of mass adjoining.
"The creation of such faults is often
incidental to earthquakes. A renewed
movement along the great fault line
of the Inyou valley, in 1872, produced
a tremendous seismic disturbance.
The shocks continued for fourteen
| months. Great assures were formed
along the base of the mountain range
| for a distance of forty miles, the land
| west of the fault rising and east of it
| falling several feet. A fence was part
ed for distance of fourteen feet in
| one spot. Owens River was tempo
rarily swallowed up, and numerous
other phenomena excited the aston
| ishment and alarm of observers.
| '.The memory of the Charleston
earthquake of 1886 is yet vivid. The
focus of the disturbance was about tif-
| teen miles west of the city. Numer-
| GUS big cracks opened in the earth of
| the surrounding country. Water and
mud were thrown up, and railway
| tracks were dislocated and buckled.
| The first great shock lasted for about
a minute, others following with gradu-
| ally decreasing violence. At the end
of four weeks they ceased to be de-
structive, but tremors were felt occa-
sionally for several months. Twenty
seven people were killed outright.
"The invention of the delicate re-
cording instrument called the 'seismo-
| graph has revealed the fact that earth
quakes are far more numerous and
frequent than used to be imagined. In
some parts of the world feeble shocks
occur almost daily. Probably there is
no part of the earth where they can
not be detected at short intervals.
| One of the most remarkable quakes OF
this century took place in Chile in
1923. On that occasion several hun.
dred miles of the coast were lifted a
number of feet. 1t has been reckoned
that enough rock was thus elevated to
make a mountain the size of Mount
Etna.
s'The Charleston earthquake was
felt distinctly at distance of 900
miles. A comparison of time showed
that the shock Travelled at the rate OF
liz, 900 feet q second. The assures in
the earth's crust, which are among the
most terrifying of seismic phenomena,
must be of great depth sometimes,
though nobody has ever tried to faith.
ON them. They have been known to
swallow rivers for days without being
filled up. Severe shocks are commonly
accompanied by sounds like explosions
near or distant. Quakes under the
sea produce waves on the surface like
those created by a pebble thrown into
up on the land, doing q great deal o.
| damage.
''There has been much dispute as to
the causes of earthquakes. They are
often associated with volcanic phe-
nomena. When the lava of q volcano
contains much water, the latter is con-
verted into steam and produces ex-
plosions which jar the ground fol-
miles. The explosion of the great
mine at He'll Gate. in New York, occa.
stoned tremblings of the earth which
were observed ITS miles away"