The Washington times., 1906-04-22
WASHINGTON FELT
TWO GIANT QUAKES
Signs Today of Their Vio-
lent Character.
WOULD RAzE HOUSES NOW
Evidences of Former Upheavals Found
on Tenleytown Road and Near
Cincinnati Street.

People. washington people particular
". do not take much stock in prophe-
cies and predictions as 10 whether
Washington will be visited by earth
quakes in future. but there is some in
terest in the question as to whether
the District has experienced such dis
turbances In the past
Mr.. Darton. of the Geological Survey
who has spent considerable time and
plains in studying the evidences of past
earthquakes IN this section. speaking Of
the matter to a Times reporter yester-
day. said:
You VIII ask if there are any evi-
dences Of recent earthquakes aoout
Washington. There are. The most not
able Is to be seen along the TenIeytown
road. and through west Georgetown
where there is a break or fault in the
solid Archaen granite of over 100 feet
The fault is such, however, that IL Is
difficult to photograph satisfactorily. but
the evidences are so plain that a blind
man could not miss them
When it Happened.
II won't be positive. but / think the
earthquake that produced this fault or
break in the granite. one side of which
is 100 feet lower than the other. and
broken squarely I'm twain occurred be-
fore the Glacial period. The shock must
have been felt throughout The District,
Maryland. and Virginia
"Such an earthquake today would
raze every building in Washington An
other is to be seen In the railroad cut
east Of Rock Creek bridge. 1t shows a
break In the tertiary strata at that
point of two feet or more, caused by an
earthquake that occurred about the
close of the Glacial period.
To the east OF Washington, in the
tertiary formations composed Of the
washings from the regibn 10 the west.
there are several other evidences of
earthquakes that I know Of within a
short distance OF the city The evidence
that is TO say. the faulting in the strata
is. however. owing 70 the fact that the
formation Is sand and gravel. somewhat
blurred and indistinct rs a result of
welding together and subsequent read
jUstmcnt.'
Many Centuries Ago.
Wien the first took place. prior to the
Glacial period. the country was unin-
habited by man. for the human species
was only then IN process of evolution
Al AAiE 4-caSL AllAlAsAlA Altt u ut
den Of Eden and birthplace OF man,
whore Prof. Dubois some years ago dis
covered the missing link" in the form
Of the earliest and most primitive known
human remains. the "PithecanthrOpus
Erectus," In the tertiary formation OF
Trinil Java.
The Potomac then ran through n deep
valley emptying into the Susquehanna
near the present site of Norfolk The
climate was mild. but gradually grow
ing colder with the approach Of the
Glacial period.
The second earthquake. which pro-
duced the fault I'm the cut near Cincin-
natl street. took place about the close
OF the Glacial period. The great ice
sheet did not extend south of Trenton
n T.. but the climate of the District
was cold and wintry. and the landscape
not unlike that Of Southern Greenland
ut the present day.
Sinking Begun.
The land had begun to sink. and the
Potomac flowed past the site of the
city between banks far higher and mar
rover than those of today, but lower
than those Of pre- glacial times Forests
of Arctic birch and Barren Ground will
low. spruce. hemlock, and Labrador
balsam covered the site Of the Capital.
interspersed with wide patches of sphog-
mum and reindeer moss.
Herds Of cariboo and musk oxen
browsed here and there. and in sum-
mer moose and herds of the extinct.
long-horned American bison, the giant
of the bovine tribe. together with herds
Of small horses wandered up from the
south TO browse on the rich Arctic pas
lures.
Man was probably on the scene in the
form of wandering Eskimos, who were
the first settlers In North America. pre-
ceding the Indians, just as the Lapps
were the first comers in Europe. There
were no shad In the Potomac IN those
days. but seal and salmon in plenty
while wolves and a species Of giant wild
dog roamed the forests in company
with pumas and lynxes, preying on the
herbivores.
How People Felt.
No doubt the simple people. whose
skin huts had been shaken down by
the earth tremor that left such a last
ing and conspicuous mark in the rail-
road cut near Cincinnati street, felt that