The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1900-11-01
PHILIPPINE EARTHaUAKES.
The Records Kept Of Them for Three
Centuries.


From the Anaconda STANDARD
The Philippine Islands. like Japan. a-e
IN a state OF almost incessant trcmor
Most OF these vibrations Of he earth's
surface are so slight that they can Ae
observed only hy seismographs. the in
struuent invented for automatically r.
cording movements Of the earth's crust
Many Others are slightly perceived. but
are not recorded as earthquakes. Tor they
do no damage whatever. and they ar "a
frequent 10 earthquake countries that The
general public pays little or no attention
20 them. Some time before the las in
surrection against Spanish rule began. VI
sadcrra Of Manila co.lccted all the his
torical notices OF earthquakes Ia the Phil
ippnes that could be found to- the ar
chivcs az the capital They extended over
FL period Of nearly three centuries from
ll@ To 1856 during which time nearly a
thousand earthquake shocks We're re-
corded II is quite certain that in the
Ast nc collected only small part % the
eartn.s movements that might be- prop
orly called earthquakes. were included
The reason for thinking so Is that after
the establishment OF the Manila obsery-
atOry ia 1855, when more careful obs.r-
vatons began To bee made 457 earthquake r
We're recorded in the thirteen ysars-ls'l
~ This did not include any seismograpn
records FOR these instruments We're not
introduced until long after the terrible
earthquake Of lSs1 had convinced the Ill
rector 90 the observatory that Il was high
y desirable TO improve the facilities 10
earthquake observation.
10 was not however. until 1887 that sells
moEraphs were finally Introduced and
tney were ln an almost constant state =
vibration ull the observatory was closed
on account OF the war. in 1897. Now that
better times are dawning for the Phi ip-
pines. it Is 20 he hoped that The work o 2
the observatory Will soon be resumed fo-
the Islands are a very important field for
the study Of meteroiogy. terrestrial mag
notism and earthquakes
Between lSS9 and 1895 tho seismoEraphs
made many thousands OF records u
earth movements. including minor earth-
quakes and there were forty-one shocks
~ considerable intensity which disturhe J
quite large areas. Maps were made show
ing The distribution OF these disturhances
and the extent Of country affected IN oac1
ease. a great deal Of data with regard
20 earth movements IN the Philippines
were published tn the Monthly Bul etin o.
The Manila observatory after 1880. but no
seism oloEist has yet undertaken the task
Of collectiug his material and summar
iz.ng the results. II may be- sad vi n
quake phenomena IN these islands. trat
.he observations thus far are stl Insult
nciont In number and geographical d s.
tributlou FOR satisfactory conclusions es
90 the seismic condition OF the archipe ago
as "a whole
Iu che long series OF volcanoes that
stretch from Kampfchatka through Japan
ana the Mnlayan archipelago In the form
81 the letter S 90 New Zealand the great
al. sHf.
western side OF the islands Il g. also tho
western side Of the Philippines and other
islands that are most severely affected
by earthquake. The shores Of Manila
bav the northwest side % Luzoa ard
the southern part of the island suffer
more frequently than other paris Of Lu-
s0u. the largest island iu the archipelago.
The most terrible earthquake tn the his
tory Of the islands was that 81 1853 when
nearly an the public buildings and Eu-
ropoau houses built ~ stone ia the CRY
81 Manila were levc.cd 10 the ground
The shock Of isso IS believed TO have been
equally severe. but iis effects were f8r
less disastrous because the lesson taught
hy the calamity OF 1873 had been utilized
and the buildings IN the rebuilt city hal
been constructed on a plan better adapfed
for resisting The effects Of these violent
oscillations. Tie shock % 1880 originated
iu the central part Of Luzon little east
OF Manila, and D. was felt for a distance
OF about $50 miles north and south. more
or ie-A. damage being done all over the
lslluta except in the extreme northern
and southern parts Of g..
Iu Mindanao, the second largest Island.
Their, are three zones where earthquake
are particularly severe They extend
from north 90 south. one running through
the middle OF the island and the othe
along the east and west side Gener-
ally speaking tho severcst effects are lcfi
iu the aIuvial plains or valleys not fir
from the mountains. where more or less
volcanic phenomena are displayed.