The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1915-05-14

but CnmiStdkable earthquake Shock
was felt In the part Of italy where
thirty thousand lives were destroyed
by the great earthquake last Janu-
ary The people or this region may
literaralIy be said to rebuild their
homes only TO have them destroyed
again, for while there is a great deal
aoout the nature OF earthquakes that
is nay stery, one thing the seismoio-
sists have determined beyond q
doubt: Where once an earthquake
has occurred, there are certain 10
be others.
Il may be centuries before an
other earthquake shock is lett IN
Italy, or there may be another
shock OF destructive violence before
this article is printed; but the re-
currence OF the recent catastrophe Is
a terrible certainty.
This truth applies in some degree
to number OF areas IN the United
States. Beginning with the San
Francisco disaster in 1906, there
have been number of destructive
earthquakes in various parts OF the
world which caused great loss OF
life and property. The result mas
been a great stimulus to the study
OF earthquakes and the mapping Of
regions where they occur Selsmo-
logists nave accurately determined
that number of large cities stand
upon the fault which marks the very
center of an area subject 20 earth
quake shocks
An earthquake is one of the most
astonishing and bewildering oil ma
tural phenomena. Nearly all great
shocks have been preceded by
heavy rumble of subterranean thun-
der. Then the earth is seen to rise
like a storm
swell on the sea, overthrowiag every
thing in its path and causing men
TO be seized with a nausea ike sea
sickness, and TO fall PROSTATE. In
cities. of course. the disaster IS al
most always multiplied by fire and
falling masonry. The earthaua Ike
shock. however. is not always lat
eral Sometimes the surface OF the
earth strikes straight upward. Thus,
in the CaIabrian earthquake of 1883
paving stones We're thrown high IN
the air: the Riobamba quake OF 1197
threw a great number of bodies out
of their graves. In the Icelandic
shocks of 1895 persons who threw
themselves on the ground near the
edge OF cliffs were tossed over into
The sea. In the great Indian earth
quake OF 1897, heavy statues We're
found half buried as though they
had been driven into the ground by
the stroke of great hammer
These startling phenomena have
made earthquakes the subject OF
speculation since earliest times. The
ancients believed in various earth
quake gods and demons. Early
scientists first believed that the mag
netic effect of the moon upon the
| earth caused earthquakes More re-
cent? whey have been regarded as
sort OF by-prc6uct of volcanoes, ana
this IS still the popular conception
of their cause. Modern seismologists
have determined, however. that vol
canoes are not the cause of earth
quakes, although the two pheno-
menas are undoubtedly relaAcd.
The most important generalization
which can be made in regard TO
earthquakes is that they nearly al
ways occur near comparatively re-
cent mountain ranges, or along coast
lines where islands indicate that I'M
portant changes have been made II
the contour of the sea bottom during
epochs. Thus the vicinity of the
Tima!ayas and the Italian Alps. the
American Rockies. the Andes OF
South America and the Atlantic
coast line arc the earthquake areas
which have been most accurately
mapped The seismoiogists explain
the occurrence OF earthquakes 10
the vicinity of these still growing
mountain ranges by the hypothesis
that at great depth below the sur
face OF the earth. the rock of which
; it is composed has been crushed into
a powder by the tremendous superin-
cumbent mass. This crushed rock
viii naturally move and flow like
sand under the pressure of the solid
rock above it Wherever there are
1 high mountain runges. they are con-
stantly being changed by erosion:
Material is taken of of one part and
placed on another. The result is a
shifting of the pressure upon the
zone OF fiowase far below. The great
mass of crushed rock caught be
tween the solid blocks resting upon
II will buckle upward or sideways
as the case may be. c:tusing shocks
and arrangements at the surface OF
the earth. This. in brief. IS the mod
ern explanation of the cause OF
earthquakes-
The best known American earth
quake province is.of course. along
from Alaska almost to the tip oil
South America. II is not so Well
known. however. that the Atlantic
seaboard is also an earthquake re-
gion. With the exception of the
Charleston earthquake OF 1886. no
violent shocks have been reported
from this region. but minor earth
quakes have been reported from var
ious Atlantic states since very early
times. For example. ii has been
noted that a number of small shocks
have occurred along what IS known
as the FALL line of the Atlantic
seaboard. This is so-called because
rapids and cataracts mark its inter-
section with the various rivers flow
ing into III. sea. The fall ne in
itself is probably ar indication of
dynamic activity within the earth,
and small shocks along this line
baya been reported in May, 1929;