The Paducah sun., 1906-05-05
LIKE A FLASH
DID THE FRISCO SHOCK CROSS
THE CONTINENT.
Sped nc Rate of 1882 Feet Per
Second, AN Aggregate Of IL
Minutes.

All the indications as to the cause
of the San Francisco earthquake
point to a local origin. writes Garrett
p. Serviss in the New York American.
II is probable that the slip, or frae-
ture. in the underlying rocks which
led to the disaster occurred deep be
meath the surface (perhaps several
miles.) and not far from the Golden
Gate.
From this center the shock spread
in all directions. II il had been
situated a considerable distance out
at sea there might have been a de-
structive wave thrown upon the coast
The fact that there was no such wav 2
indicate that the center Of disturb
ance was close to the coast. and pos
slbly under the land. perhaps at some
little distance from the seashore.
San Francisco. being situated close
to the point of origin of the shock
and possibly directly over it. felt the
full force OF the earthquake, the vi
brations being transmitted straight
to the foundations OF the city.
A more accurate record of the
times would probably somewhat re-
duce the calculated speed: yet it Is
not likely that more than twenty
minutes were consumed by the vi
bratlons in crossing the continent
Earthquake vibrations are trans
mitted through the earth as a whole
and also along the surface. where
they become horizontal waves. Ia
this case the Rocky Mountains and
the coast ranges interposed an OBJ
stacle to the progress of the surface
undulations For this reason the
vibrations recorded at Washington
undoubtedly were transmitted di-
rectly through the body of the earth
passing under the bases OF the
mountains.
BY comparing the recorded times
OF the occurrence OF the first shock at
san Francisco and OF the beginning
OF the vibrations at Washington we
can deduce the speed with which the
earthquake wave rushed through the
solid globe The first shock at San
Francisco was q, 5;13 a. m, Pacific
time That would correspond at
S:1S a. m, eastern time. The first
vibrations reached Washington al
$50, eastern time. Consequently
the actual time elapsed while they
were crossing the continent was
seventeen minutes,
This corresponds to a speed of
l76ls miles per minute, or 1852
feet per second. assuming that the
total distance traversed was 3.0o0I
miles. and that the times are ac-
curlte. This is somewhat above the
highest recorded speed OF earthquake
waves hitherto known, although they
have been found travelling more than
10000 feet per second
Vibrations taking a still deeper
course through the earth would
emerge In the Atlantic ocean. Very
deep ones might reach the coasts of
Europe and be recorded by seismic
instruments there. They would
probably. however. be very weak at
that distance.
In the other direction the shocks
must have been transmitted to the
Pacific ocean with considerable vio-
lence. and ships at sea may possibly
have noticed them, and they may
have reached Hawaii or even the
eastern coast of Africa. They must
also have spread north and south.
In regard to the question OF danger
on the Atlantic coast from a great
earthquake shock in California Ga
question that has been raised on ac-
count OF the phenomena noticed In
It should be said that
q is practically impossible that any
serious effect Of that kind could be
produced. The most destructive, and
possibly the most powerful, earth
luake on record was that of Lisbon
n 1855, but while on that occasion
sea wave was sent across the At
antic ocean in nine and a half hours
md more or less severe shakings
we're experienced as far away as the
British islands, the serious damage
vas confined to the city of Lisbon
md its immediate nelghborhood.