The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1906-04-22
BY JAMES FURAN KEMP Geology Columbia University


known crater In 1886 Charleston,
South Carolina. was severely shaken,
and yet there is no active or even
recently extinct cone within hundreuS
of miles of it. During the years from
1910 to 1873 the valley of the MISSISSIPPI
near New Madrid, in southeastern
Missouri, was repeatedly and Violent
" affiliated. A huge bulge from the
banks and bed of the river was eleVat-
ed twenty-five feet above its level ana
Immediately in it's path. For seVeral
hours the current Of the Father OF
Waters at this point was turned back
to the north, but in the end the river
broke through and established its pres
ent course. To the east the land sank
and in Reelfoot Lake, from twelve 10
twenty miles from the river in this
direction, the trees killed by the sub
sidence of their roots beneath the water
still project above it's surface.
We are therefore justified in con-
Guiding that causes may produce
shocks which are not Immediately con-
nected with eruptions. In the study of
the structural relations OF the rocky
formations of the globe one of the
commonest experiences is to find strata
which must have formed the sea-
bottom crumpled into folds, broken by
great cracks with displacement of the
sides, and disturbed from their original
horizontal position in all manner of
ways. These changes need not be ac-
companied by outbreaks of lava or
any volcanic phenomena, and yet 1T is
evident that their development must
have sent vibrations and oscillations of
great violence in every direction, and
II s1f oil
periods of the earths history. If in
our mountains we now find the old sea-
bottom, with it's shells and corals, ten
or fifteen thousand feet above the pres
ent level of the ocean, it is obvious
that the elevation, even though very
gradual, was a fruitful source of
shocks.
EARTHQUAKES AT ANTIOCH.
Antioch in it's day was the third city
in Importance in the world. Situated
in northern Syria upon the river Oron
ties, it enjoyed a salubrious climate and
reached a high state of civilization. The
records are therefore quite complete. !
1t was, however, located in a region
that suffered severely from earth |
quakes, and it's name has become in
most famous shocks. No volcano is
city is back from the coast, no sea-
wave ever affected it. The first re-
corded shock took place in 14S B. C. |
Others in A. D. 81, 115-117, BAL, 447, 49, |
SIS, 526, 52S, $40, 5S7, 712. 1892, and even !
in other years, are matters of historic |
record. AS late as 1922 old-time ex-
periences were repeated for the inhabi- /
tants. The most destructive and there |
fore famous earthquakes took place in |
115-117, 341, 526, and 52S. During the |
first of these Trajan and his army were /
in the city, three fourths of which was |
destroyed. Rivers changed their cours- !
es, terrible storms broke out, and the |
emperor himself was in great danger |
of his life. In 341 the shakings lasted !
q year and extended all over the /
Orient. In SIG six days of severe shocks
were experienced, which destroyed, |
among other edifices, a famous Chris |
tian temple. There happened to be |
great aSSemblage of Christians, eSti- |
mated at two hundred and fifty thou |
sand, in the city at the time, and the |
loss of life was very severe. The city |
was rebuilt, however, and for two and |
a half years remained mistaken. Then
in November, 528. came shock of !
several hours duration, accompanied !
by outbreaks of water. The newly built I
houses fell in on their inha bitants, and I
five thousand people persisted. Fifty I
years later the city was again wreck
ed, and before ten years had passed ,
there came another shock with great /
loss of life.
Antioch presents a striking case of
continued and violent shocks in an in
land city, and while we have not de-
tailed scientific records. it's history
places before US a significant story of !
the relations of mankind with one of /
the destructive phenomena of nature. |
THE LISBON EARTHQUAKE
The most terrible of the earthquakes
of which we have full records is the one
that befell Lisbon in 1855. 1t also pre-
sents some interesting particulars not
by those at Antioch because
Lisbon is situated on a gradual slope
near the coast and on a bay at the
mouth of river, conditions necessary
for the production of great sea-wave
For five or six years before the shock