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

Only Z few weeks ago, a slight
| but rnmistakabIe earthquake shock
was felt in the part of italy where
thirty thousand lives were DESTROYED
By the great earthquake last Janu-
/ airy. The people OF this region may
literarally be said to rebuild their
1 homes only 10 have them DESTROYED
again, for while there Is great deal
J oout the nature OF earthquakes that
| is Inys tery, one thing the seismolo-
sists have determined beyond
| aoubt: Where once an earthquake
| has occurred, there are certain TO
be others.
II may be centuries before an
other earthquake shock is 1eit IN
Itaiy. or there may be anothea
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 Gniteo
States. Beginning with the San
Francisco disaster in 1906, there
have been a number OF destructive
earthquakes in various parts oil 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. Seismo-
logists have accurately determined
that a number of large cities stand
upon the fault which marks the very
center of an area subject 70 earth
quake shocks.
An earthquake is one of the most
astonishing and bewildering of ma
-. turaI phenomena Nearly all great
shocks have been preceded oy q
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 a nausea like sea
sickness, and to fall PROSTATE. In
cities. of course, the disaster IS al
most always multiplied by fire ana
falling masonry. The earthquake
shock. however. is not always iat
eral. Sometimes the surface of the
earth strikes straight upward Thus,
in the CaIabrian earthquake OF 1888
paving stones We're thrown high IN
the air: the Riobamba quake of 1877
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 oil
| 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-
| ~ Neon rde0 q
! sort OF by-prcduct 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 relaAed-
The most important generalization
which can be made in regard 10
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 IL
the contour of the sea bottom during
com parative!y recent geolosic
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 are the earthquake areas
! which have been most accurately
| mapped. The seismologists explain
! the occurrence OF earthquakes in
| the vicinity of these still growing
4 mountain ranges by the hypothesis
! that az a great depth below the sur
! face or the earth. the rock OF which
! it is composed has been crushed into
q powder by the tremendous superin-
/ cumbent mass. This crushed rock
1 Will naturally move and flow like
/ sand under the pressure of the solid
4 rock above it. Wherever there are
/. high mountain rVnges. they are con
/ stantly being changed by erosion.
Material is taken off of one part and
Z ,I,oa,I IN apotf.r The result is a