The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1899-01-21
TIDAL WAVES.
The Tremendous Speed at Which
They Sometimes Travel


Mendocino county, indicate unerringly,
according to the gent 'eman locally con-
nected with the coast and geOdetic sur
vey, that one or moro earthquakes have
tken place since the awful wave, that
caused the loss of 10000 or moro lives at
Yesso, of June-2S. The exact date of
the tida! disturbance at Vancouver
island is not known, SO that there may
be question whether the manifesto
ton there and at New river worked the
same natural convulsion. The register
attached to the tidal 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 Sausalito, as
it is called, was only that there had been
an earthquake which had caused the
ocean to undulate in an unusual way.
The observer at Sausalito reports that
when the pencil attached to the tide reg
lister was recording the Japanese tidal
wave he could not see anything unusual
in the appearance of the water.
Earthquake waves or those given rise
by earthquakes are transmitted with
such enormous speed that the japan dis
aster was recorded about IL 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 300 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 ply
sical manifestations with the recent oc-
currence at Yesso. On the 23d of De-
cember, 1854, a sharp earthquake shock
was felt in Simoda and upon the ship
ping at 9 a. IN. This was followed at
quick intervals for half an hour. At
$3.50 the sea was observed washing into
the bay in one immense wave, 80 feet
high, with awful velocity.
In an instant the town of Simoda was
overwhelmed and swept high from its
foundations. This advance and recess
sion of the water occurred many times.
The Russian frigate Diana was hurled
about by the rising and falling OF the
waters, which varied from less than
feet to more than 40 feet.
Capt. II. 4. Adams wrote of the ST.
moda disaster that the sea rose live
fathoms above its usual height, "over-
flowing 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. Tt rose and sank this
| way five or six times, covering the
! shores Of the bay with the wreck of
boats, junks and buildings. Only 16
| houses were left standing in the whole
place. The entire coast of japan seems
| to have suffered" ......g
| That terrific happening was recorded
by the tide register at San Francisco IL
hours and 80 minutes later. The dis
tance between Simoda and San Fran
cisco is 4,527 nautical miles. The wave
transmission varied, according to two
estimates, from 35S miles per hour to
! $40 miles per hour, or 6.2 miles per min
ute, 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 Sausalito by Prof. George Davidson
in 1877. The first large earthquake re-
corded on the gauge at this point was
that the Simoda. The great convulsion
atKraktoa, in the Strait of Sunda, which
took place only few years age, was reg
istered at the Sausalto tide gauge, ano
the news thata great earthquake had oc-
Cured was made public by Prof. David
son weeks before the information was
otherwise known. From calculations
based on the record made by the tide
gauge at Fort Point after the Simods
disaster of 1854 the coast and goedetie
survey estimated the average depth o.
the Pacific ocean, and the accuracy OF the
estimation has been subsequently dem
onstrated by deep-sea soundings. 1t il
an interesting fact, in view of the recent
calamity at Yesso, that the loss of life by
earthquake disturbances up to 1896 or
!. the entire earth has been at least Il, 900,
OOO.-San Francisco Call.