The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1907-07-25
Astronomer at Mare Island Naval OBJ
servatory Says Shores Of Pacific, the
Deepest Of Oceans, Are Constantly
Menaeed-Friseo Disaster a Lesson.

leakage of the ocean Bottom which
gives rise to the development of steam
beneath the earth's crust owing to the
earth's internal heat He also points
out that the chief danger Of these agi-
tations Is along the seacoast, and,
while serving a useful purpose, 1t Is
we'll to be prepared for their visitation
to prevent great destruction Of life and
property, as has often happened, ow-
ing to lack of understanding Of natural
laws.
'Tt seems to be clearly proved" said
Dr. See, "that the earth Is not con-
tracing, as.heretofore held by men OF
science, but that the effects Of secular
cooling Of the globe are insensible. If
I am not entirely mistaken, 1 have
shown that the earth, SO far from con-
tracing, may be slightly expanding.
In any case, earthquakes and volca-
noes as we'll as mountain formations In
general, depend upon the secular leak
age of the ocean bottoms.
"The great earthquake and volcanic
belts are along the shores of continents
or in the sea, and a study of the ocean
depths shows that the earthquakes are
worst where the sea is deepest and the
shore is steepest The land is often
uplifted by earthquakes and the ad-
iacent sea bottom sinks, which means
that lava is being expelled from be-
meath the sea and pushed under the
adjacent land.
Gall the great mountain chains have
been formed by this process, and
hence the exact parallelism to the sea-
shore, known to every schoolboy, but
not heretofore understood by geolo-
gists. So long as we did not know the
cause of mountain formation or erro-
neously attributed 1t to the secular
cooling of the earth we could not
make any advance in the analysis of
earthquake causes, but now that earth
ouakes are proved to be due to the
leakage of the ocean bed, necessarily
resulting from the great depth and
pressure of water upon it, we are In a
position to make progress.
1--WE know that cities on the coasts
of deep seas are always unsafe, ana
therefore their houses should be con-
structed to withstand earthquakes,
and means should be provided for the
extinction Of confagrations. II the
people Of San Francisco had possessed
our present knowledge nearly all the
loss sustained in the earthquake could
have been prevented. California to-
DAY would have been better of by
some S3OO,OO0,O00. and Stanford uni
versity would not have suffered the
ruin which has been so deeply re-
gretted.
"Knowledge of the laws OF nature
does not enable us to repair damage
already done, but it enables us 70
guard against a repetition Of the dis
aster and is therefore most useful 10
the people and to the state. II repe-
tition of such disasters can be pre-
vented in future there will be much
to console those who suffered so
heavily in the great earthquake OF
April IS, 1906"
DIR. See said that the leakage OF the
ocean, which gives rise to the develop
ment of steam within the earth, IS
slow, as the water has to work down
through over ten miles Of solid rock
like granite.
"No other great earthquake is, there
fore to be expected at San Francisco
during this generation. In fact, 1t Will
be fifty, perhaps hundred, years De-
fore the subterranean stress becomes
powerful enough to shake the eartn
again in a violent manner. San Fran
cisco is therefore safe and rapidly re-
building. Other towns on the Paclnc
coast, however, ought to take warning
from experience and be prepared 1or
any emergency which may arise. The
whole western part Of our country BE-
yond the Rocky mountains has Deen
uplifted from the sea by earthquakes
within recent geological time, and OF
course the ocean continues this work
of making more land. Except Tor
earthquakes all the land would long
since have been washed down, and the
sea would have covered the entire
globe. Earthquakes, therefore, serve
s most useful purpose in the world, be-
cause it is only by these forces that
any land has been raised above the
sea to make possible the development
Of the higher forms Of animals and
plants upon the earth. Earthquakes
therefore, are not to be dreaded, but
we must be prepared for them so the
damage done will be minimum.
"No serious disturbance OF the earth
need ever be feared in inland high. dry
regions, such as Kansas and Colorado,
but on the coast where the sea Is deep
the people must learn to be prepared
for such emergencies. Our eastern
coast Is bordered by shallow sea, and
earthquakes are not frequent In that
region. The Pacific is the deepest OF
the oceans and surrounded by the