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

| bur unnaistakabIe earthquake shock
was felt in the part OF italy where
thirty thousand lIyes We're DESTROYED
by the great earthquake last Janu-
airy. The people OF this region may
literarally be said TO rebuild their
homes only to have them destroyed
again, for while there is great deal
ABOUT the nature OF earthquakes that
is my stery, one thing the seismolo-
sists nave determined beyond a
ooubt: Where once an earthquake
mas occurred, there are certain TO
be others.
Ii may be centuries before AN
other earthquake shock is felt ~
italy. or there may be another
shock of destructive violence before
this article is printed: but the re-
currence of the recent catastrophe IS
q terrible certainty
This truth applies in some degree
10 numbe OIL areas IN the lniteu
states. Beginning with the San
Francisco disaster in 1906, there
have been a number of destructive
earthquakes in various parts OF the
world which caused great loss oil
life and property. The result has
been a great stimulus TO the study
OF earthquakes and the mapping OF
regions where they occur. Selsmo-
Iogists have accurately determined
that a number of large cities stand
upon the fault which marks the very
center of an area subject to earth
quake shocks.
An earthquake is one OF the most
astonishing and bewildering OF ma
tural phenomena. Nearly all great
shocks have been preceded by a
heavy rumble OF sabterranean thun-
der. Then the earth is seen TO rise
in a moving wave. like storm
swell on the sea. overthrowing every
thing in its path and causing men
to be seized with 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 earthquake
shock. however, is not always lat
eraI. Sometimes the surface of the
earth strikes straight upward Thus,
in the Calabrian earthquake of 1888
having stones were thrown high IN
the air; the Riobamba quake OF 1191
threw great number of bodies out
OF their graves In the Icelandic
shocks of 1896 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 a 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? ythey have been regarded as
sort of by-product of volcanoes, and
! this Is still the popular conception
of their cause. Modern SeismoloSiSts
have determined, however. that vol
canoes are not the cause of earth
quakes. although the two pheno-
menas are undoubtedly reiaA,d.
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 char ges have been made IN
the contour OF the sea bottom during
comparatively recent geological
cpochs. Thus the vicinity Of the
Tilnalayas and the Italian Alps. the
American Rockies the Andes OF
South America and the Atlantic
coas; line are the earthquake areas
which have been most accurately
! mapped The seiSm oloSists explain
the occurrence of earthquakes IN
| The vicinity of these still growing
| mountain ranges by the hypothesis
! that at q 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 superln-
I! cumbent mass This crushed rock
I will naturally move and flow like
I sand under the pressure of the solld
+! rock above ii. Wherever there are
I high mountain rgnges. they are con
4 stantiy being changed by erosion:
Material is taken off of one part and
+ placed on apother. The result Is a
shifting OF the pressure upon the
zone of flcwase far below The great
mass OF crushed rock caught be
! tween the solid blocks resting upon
! il will buckle" upwarS or sideways
as the-case may be. oausing SHOCKS
and arrangements at the surface oil
the earth. This. in brief. IS the moo q.
ern explanation of the cause o.
earthquakes.
The best known American earth
quake province is,of course, along
the Pacific coast line and extends
from Alaska almost to the tip o.
South America. II Is not so Well
! known. however, that the Atlanta
seaboard IS also an earthquake re
zion. With the exception of the
=
violent shocks have been reported
from this region, but minor earth
auakes have been reported from var
fous Atlantic states since very earl;
times. For example, il 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
in: into thu sea. The 'Iall 'E;e" IN
itself is probably an indication OF
dynamic activity within the earth,
and small shocks along this line