The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-09-04
in A VOLCANIC REGION
THE PHILIPPINES SUBJECT TO DIS
AsTROUs SEISMIC DISTURBANCES.
Some of the Islands I'm Constant Tre-
mor-ManiIa Almost Destroyed In
1s63-Krakatau Blown to Pieces.
Baltimore Sun.


Baltimore Sun.
If the United States were to annex the
Philippines, it would add to its territory
a group of islands Astounding in volcanoes
and never entirely free from earthquakes.
If it were to retain only the Island of Lu-
zon, 1t would possess the region in which
the igneous energy of the Philippines is
concentrated. If it were to hold only the
city of Manila and few square miles of the
territory adjoining the city, there would be
co astant danger of seismic disturbances
which would destroy the city. The seismo-
graphs at the Manila observatory are con-
stantly vibrating, showing the mighty
forces below the crust of the earth which
are liable at any moment to bring disaster.
The city of Manila has been frequently
wasted by such commissions, and in 1863
most of it's public buildings were leveled
to the ground. In 1880 it was again visited
by an earthquake and the destruction
would have been as great then as in 1868
but for the fact that the residents had prof
tied by the lessons of the previous disaster
and constructed their houses on a plan bet
ter adapted to resist the effects of these
violent oscillations of the earth. The fol-
lowing description of the volcanoes of the
Philippines is reproduced from Elisee Rec
lus's great work, 1.-The Earth and Its In
habitants."
The igneous energy of the Philippines is
concentrated mainly in Luzon, where the
superb Bulusan volcano stands at the south
ernmost extremity. connected by . narrow
isthmus with the peninsula of Camarines.
Farther north follow the craterless Pedal,
and on the Gulf of Albay, the Albay, or
Mayor volcano, the most dreaded well
as one of the highest 600 feeD in the whole
archipelago. Mayor, which is of almost per-
fectly regular FORM covers at its base a
circuit of ovsr eighty square miles, it's TANKS
are clothed with forest trees to height OF
about 1900 feet, but higher up little is visl-
BILE except deposits of scoriae, which are
very difficult to scale. Nevertheless both
Jagor and Won Drasche reached the summit
the latter in 1876 when no trace could be
detected of a crater properly 50 called. Dur
ing its frequent eruptions Mayor throws
little lava, but prodigious quantities of
ashes cover the surrounding districts far
and wide. In 1914 the town of Daraga was
buried and the elected matter waited as far
as Manila, 200 miles distant.
SPRINGS IN THE TIBI VALLEY.
Nazaraga (4.445 feet), crateress delorite
lone, and Malinao, which appears to have
been quiescent for ages, continue the igne-
Gus chain northward to Iraga, the scene of
a disturbance in 1641, when the little Lake
Buhi was formed by a sudden landslip.
East of this lake the Tibi valley presents
the most remarkable group of thermal, sui
phurous and silicious springs in the whole
archipelago. They are copious enough to
develop a rivulet of hot water, which the
people of the neighborhood utilize for cult
nary purposes. The springs precipitate
considerable quantities of silica, covering
the surface with dazzling white incrusta-
tions and one jet of water and vapor has
a temperature of no less than 226 degrees
Fahrenheit.
stands the broad-based Ysarog Qsarog).
whose slopes occupy the whole space be-
tween the bays of San Miguel and Lagonoy,
termina ting in a regular cone $3.50 feet
high Ysarog has been quiescent through
out modern times and the only sign of mod
srn energy appears to be spring of car
The northern part of the Camarines pc
ninsua is dominated by the two volcanic
tuna), which, however, have no craters and
apparently have been at rest since pre-
historic. times. Majayjay $500 feeD and
San Cristobal $3.50 feeD, southeast from
Manila, are also extinct. But west of them
stands the volcano of Taal, which, although
only $50 feet high, is one of the most re-
markable in the Philippines. 1t occupies,
with two other lesses cones, an inlet in
the middle of Lake Bombon, which is sepa-
a
row isthmus. Taai. whose TANKS are fur
rowed by deep sorges. terminates in an
enormous crater, has circumference of
over 4.S00 yards and contains in it's depth
secondary craters, numerous crevasses
emitting vapors and two blue lakelets
charged with sulphuric and hydrochlorc
acids in the proportion of over 6 per cent.
Formerly the two other volcanoes in the
island-the Great and Little Binintiang-
elected ashes alternately and the bed of the
lake itself was occasionally in a state of
eruption, but since 1749 all the underground
forces have been centered in Mount Taal,
WHICH casts up showers of pulverized rock,
but no lavas. The last Outburst in 1885, de-
stroyed all traces of vegetation in the island.
BOMBON'S VAST CRATER.
Bombon. which is nearly $40 feet deep,
was probably vast crater, of which the
islets of its three volcanoes IS merely the
central cone, while the wall of tufa, over
GOO feet high, encircling the north and east
shores of the lake, are The remains of the
original rim of the crater. But. like that
of the Island of st. Paul. this crater was
formerly open toward the sta, AS shown
by the present intervening barrier which
is entirely composed of eruptive scorIae.
The water of The old inlet, thus converted
into lake, is still some what saline, al
though constantly renewed by rain water
and although the overflow is carried eff
by an emiSsary running southwest to the
lake had gradually adapted itself tc it's
mOulQeQ environments Inc great lake
bay, or the Baguna, southeast of Manila
was also probably ancient marine gulf
cut off from the sea by the narrow 18TH
mus of recent formation on which stands
the capital of the Philippines. According
to Semper, the Laguna is inhabited by
the shark and another sea fish found iii
the neighbOring marine waters. The PENN
sula and islets in the northern part of
the Laguna, as we'll as the island of Cor
regidor at the entrance of Manila bay,
consist of igneous rocks, but all have been
quiescent throughout the historic period.
writers leave it doubtful whether any out
burst occurred during the seventeenth CEN
fury at Mt. Aringay, or Santo Tomas north
east of Aringdy, is certainly quieScent, al
though, like several other cones in this
group, it is encircled by thermal springs and
solfataras. No other volcano occurs be-
tween this district and the northern ex-
tremity of LuZon, where Cagud 1920 feet
at the terminal headland, constantly emitS
wreathS of smoke. Beyond this point the
igneous system is continued under the sea
to the Island of Camiguin e, Ais feet) which
contains a productive Solfatara- In the
neighboring Babuyan an active volcano rose
above the surface in 1856; four years later it
had attained height of nearly 700 feet, and
since then has continued to grow; its pres
ent elevation apparently being about 800
feet. The reefs Dedica, on which the new
volcano stands, would themselves appear to
be the remains of an old burning mountain.
In this vast igneouS chain, which extends
from Sangil for about 900 miles nOrthward,
the last member is Babuyan Claro whose
fiery cone, over 5000 feet high, lights up at
night the dangerous waters of the sea of
with the Philippines through the reefs and
islets of the intervening Batanes (Bashee)
archipelago.
UNDERGROUND DISTURBANCES.