The daily morning journal and courier., 1900-03-22
EARTHQUAKE LORE.
Various Theories to Account for Seis-
 mic Disturbances.

Various Theories to Account for Seis-
 mic Disturbances.
 Earthquake phenomena have been re-
 corded since 1906 E. C., and are very
 prominent among ancient scientific
 notes, not because there was much Knowledge of the cause and effect, but because of the consternation and super-
 stition which the swift and great de-
 struction of life and property engen-
 dered. Ancient civilization was central
 around the Mediterranean, which sec
 ton has long been an area of seismic
 disturbance. From Gibraltar to the Eu-
 pirates city after city has been shaken
 and thousands of livee destroyed. In
 1893 there perished in Sicily 60000; in
 19 A. D., 120000 lives were lost in Italy
 alone, and in 526 A. D. 100000 were des- troyed by this power in Syria. Through
 out ancient writings are scattered ac-
 counte of earth tremblings; it is prob- able that many are exaggerated and others omitted, as no pains were taken in those days to ascertain the facts as | in the Charleston earthquake
 | Memorable among seismic shocks is
 the Lisbon disaster of 1755. The loss of
 life was 30,OO0 and the tremor in varying
 degrees of intensity was felt throughout
 France Italy, Germany and England, extending from the north of Africa to
 the North Cape, covering an area of T. 500,000 square miles Like all other earthquakes having the epcentrum near the sea, excepting the Charleston, vio- lent wave rolled inland destroying what ever had survived the shock. At Cadiz this wave was 60 feet high, and 1t roll ed in an unusual height into Boston Harbor
 The second great seismic zoneN is the western axis of this hemisphere. From Alaska to Patagonia, violent shocks are frequently experienced, and rarely week passes that some vibration is not recorded. In August. 1868, the Andes were terribly shaken from Ecuador south 1000 miles. Africa was obliterated in few momeFt4. A United States steamer was lifted from her moorings in the harbor and swept inland two miles. A lake now shimmers where stood Catocachy. Cemeteries were shak- en open and skeletons hurled about in a lifeless resurrection.
 While these two portions of the globe have experienced more violence in his- toric time than others, 1t does not fol- low that any portion Is insured against the disturbance ar has not had it's ex- perience in prehistoric time. The vi- bration travels long distance. The Hell Gate explosion was registered both in Boston and In Washington. Seismic bands, in varying widths, roadiate from the centers transmitting the shock through the strata like the telephone wire.
 The examination of an earthquake. catalogue reveals curious condition; the greatest number of ehocks have occurred at the middle of each century, with a minor series towards it's close.
 The experiences of Ceram, Chila, Aid- in, Rome and San Francisco during 1899 simply add to this testimony. It would not be scientific to regard seismic dis turbances as periodic; the above should be regarded as merely coincident. There Is a peculiar record distributed among the months of 1S6, beginning with Janu ary, as follows: 10, 10, IA, 8, 7, ', 8, g.. z, IA, 5, 9; total, 104. The duration of the disturbance covers not only days and weeks but months and even yeare. The earthquake at Calabria covered a period of four years with 949 violent shocks in 17S3 and 151 in 1784. In Cumana Vene- zuela, the earth trembled continuously for 14 hours. In March, 1872, Caracas experienced 15 terrible shocks in one day.
 These shocks are so uncertain that no I1n tod |, ness concerning their action. Attempts have been made to do this and to link them with volcanoes, but as scientific investigation of the phenomena covers so brief period the laws in the phytsic- al geographies must be given wide lati- tude. We must at present regard them from their frequency and uncertainty not as exceptional but as characteristic 1 earth phenomena, as much so as are the l tides and storms, though by no means ae regular.
 Here are some of the theories ad- vanced. First, the falling in of great | caverns. No cavern could 1 cave in extensively enough to produce a Lisbon or Charleston shock without 1 a greater change in the sur face Second, a violent convulsion of a liquid interior by superheated gases. | Third, the action of sun and moon upon a molten interior as upon a liquid eX terior. remarkable coincidence gives to this third suppostion at | first thought. Of 1000 observations, the number occurring at SyZgies is the greatest, when the attractions of sun and moon are combined and the moon is nearest to the earth. In refutation of the second and third, it should be said that astro- physicists no longer re- gard the earth as having liquid interi- or. The weight of the surface strata ie too great to permit liquification, were the earth less rigid it could not so well | a constant form in the solar system; finally, had it molten interior, and this the cause of seismic disturb 1nce, we should logically expect as regular a period for earthquakes as for tides. Fourth, earthquakes and volcan- pes are linked as cause and effect, or effects of the same cause. Those who this theory forget that earth-