The Hawaiian gazette., 1906-05-11
ROCKS BELOW
SURFACE
SLIP

WASHINGTON, D. c., April IS,
1906. 06.--Seismographlc machines at the
weather~ bureau at the observatory of
the coast and geodetic survey at Chel-
tonham, Md, showed distinctly the
earthquake tremors due to the great
phenomena at San Francisco. Otto II.
Tettman, superintendent of the coast
and geodetic survey. at noon today
rendered this eport to Secretary Met
calf of the ,ieiartment of commerce
and labor:
According to telephone message
from w. f. Wallace, in charge of the
Cheltonham magnetic observatory, an
earthquake was recorded beginning
about s O'Clock, eastern time, this
morning, April u.s. and lasted about
three hours, that is, until shortly after
IL o'clock. After this II quieted down.
The disturbance is as large as any
thus far recorded, and would have
probably gone beyond the limits of the
sheet except for the damping brushes
which limit the motion of the record
ing stylus. The indications are that
great destruction has been caused"
Guayaquil Ecuador. reports that
earthquake broke communication in all
cables in that part of the world The
variation was considerable but not SO
pronounced as the variation reported
ut Cheltonham today. The Porto Ri
can record was incomplete, as the
earthquake came near the end of the
"a hours which the recording paper
covers. When the stylus finally ran
entirely off the paper II was caught on
the end and was disabled. The coast
and geodetc survey has laboratories
not only at Cheltonham and In Porto
Rico. but also in Sitka, Alaska, in
Kansas and In the Hawaiian Islands.
Although the stylus Of the seismo-
graph at the weather bureau was
active the first Information the Off
cials there had of the earthquake was
through the press. Hasty consultation
of the seismograph showed clearly the
extent OF the disturbance
! DR.. c. w. Hayes. director Of geol-
ogy of the geological survey, said to-
day that he considered San Francisco
the best calculated of any of the large
cities of the United states to stand a
severe earthquake shock, as most of
the residential section was built of
wood, to guard against just such con-
tingencies, while the newer buildings
in the business section We're all steel
frames and less liable to damage than
mere stone walls. In this connection
he said;
! Il see by the first reports from San
Francisco that the st. Francis Hotel
has stood the shock, and that Is one
of the most modern buildings In the
city Such a shock as they had in San
, Francisco is probably due to the slip
ping of the surface rocks to adjust
themselves to changed conditions in
side the earth. The interior of the
earth is probably not in a molten
state. except In the region of some OF
the volcanoes, but after you get down
distance of 60 or 70 miles the rocks
are practically in a fluid state from
the immense pressure on top of them.
They act like liquid and they flow
to adjust themselves to changed con-
ditions. But when you come nearer
the surface, where the strata are hard
I and brittle, the slipping of u part OF
! the earth's crust along the line OF d
fault will give you just the conditions
that attended the shock in San Fran
cisco. The old earth, take II as
WHOLE is a very uneasy body and Is in
a state of constantly changing equilib-
rum When the foundations deep
! down change there has to be an ad-
justment OF the surface like the break
of ice on a river and readjustment
of the blocks to each other That is
evidently Just what happened on the
Pacific coast.
1T is the consensus of opinion among
biologists In my office that there Is
not the slightest volcanic influence at
the bottom of the trouble In San Fran
cisco, while the earthquakes in Naples
were the direct result OF the eruptions
of Vesuvius. The two disturbances are
from entirely differen. sources and are
simply alike In the coincidence of time.
! "The part of California in which the
stricken city Is located Is the great
est earthquake country in the United
States. The cause of the disaster
there this morning Is the shifting OF
bedrock. The disturbance is much the
same as a subterranean mountain side.
The huge layers OF rock settle and the
surface feels the shock. If the records
of the disturbances I'm the locality in
the past count for anything, there Is
not the slightest danger of any vol
canic disturbance.
There may yet be some shocks that
will be felt on the surface. but the
probability Is that the worst Is over.
Disturbances of this nature generally
come with slight rumblings, then the
great shock follows, which does the
damage"