The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1896-06-28

REMARKABLE SPEED
OF A TIDAL WAVE.
Indications on This Coast of a Dis
turbance More Recent Than
the Japan Disaster.
Pecu lar Action of the Gauge at Sausa.
lito-Pencil Registered What
Could Not Be Seen.

The tidal disturbances observed at Van
couver Island and at New River, in Men
docino County, within the past few days,
indicate unerringly, according to the gen.
tlemen locally connected with the Coast
and Geodetic Survey, that one or more
earthquakes have taken place since the
awful wave that caused the loss of 1900
or more lives at Yesso. The exact date of
the tidal disturbance at Vancouver Island
is not known, so that there may be cues
ton whether the manifestations there and
at New River worked the same natural
CONFUSION. The register attached to the
tide gauge at Sausalito told of the Yesso
calamity before many of the facts had
been received by cable. But the extent of
the information traced on the maregram
at SausaIito, as it is called, was only that
there had been an earthquake which had
caused the ocean to undulate in an I'M
usual way. The observer at Sausalito re-
ports that when the pencil attached to the
tide register was recording the Japanese
tidal wave he could not see anything I'M
usual in the appearance of the water.
Earthquake waves or those given rise by
earthquakes are transmitted with such
enormous speed that the Japan disaster
was recorded at Sausalito about twelve
hours after it occurred.
There are valuable records in the Office
of the Coast and Geodetic Survey which
show beyond question that a speed of six
miles minute, or $50 miles an hour, is to
be expected under such conditions.
The overwhelming of Simoda, town on
the island of Niphon, appears to have
been almost complete parallel in physi-
cal manifestations with the recent occur
renee at Yesso. On the 23d of Decemb Der,
1854, sharp earthquake shock was felt in
Simoda and upon the shipping at A. NJ.
This was followed at quick intervals for
half an hour. At $50 the sea was OBJ
served washing into the bay in one i'm
mense wave, thirty feet high, with awful
velocity.
In an instant the town of Simoda was
overwhelmed and swept high from its foun-
dations. This advance and recession of
the water occurred many times. The
Russian frigate Diana was urIed about by
the rising and falling OF the waters, which
varied from less than eight feet to more
than forty feet.
Captain II. A. Adams wrote of the
Simoda disaster that the sea rose five
fathoms above its usual height, overflow
ing the town and carrying houses and
temples before it in its retreat. When it
fell it left but four feet of water in the
harbor. 1t rose and sank this way, five or
six times covering the shores of the bay
with the wreck of boats, junks and build
ings. Only sixteen houses were left stand
ing in the whole place. The entire coast
of Japan seems to have suffered"
That terrific happening was recorded by
the tide register at San Francisco twelve
hours and thirty-eight minutes later The
distance between Simoda and San Fran
cisco is 1927 nautical miles, The wave
transmission varied, according to two
estimates, from 1853 miles per hour to $40
miles per hour or 6.2 miles per minute,
which is about six times faster than the
most speedy railroad train travels.
The tide-gauge was established at Fort
Point about 1852 and was removed to Sau-
salito by Professor George Davidson in
1877. The first large earthquake wave re-
corded on the gauge at this port was that
of SImoda. The great CONFUSION at Kra-
katoa, in the Strait of Sunda, which took
place only few years ago, was registered
at the Sausalito tide-gauge, and the news
that great earthquake had occurred was
made public by Professor Davidson weeks
before the information was otherwise
known. From calculations based on the
record made by the tide-gauge at Fort
Point after the Simoda disaster of 1854 the
Coast and Geodetic Survey estimated the
average depth of the Pacific Ocean, and the
accuracy of the estimate has been subse-
quently demonstrated by deep-sea sound
lngs- 1t is an interesting fact, in view of
the recent calamity at Yesso, that the loss
OF life by earthquake disturbances up to
1896 on the entire earth has been at least
IL nnn 600