Norwich bulletin., 1922-11-25
EARTHQUAKES AND TIDAL WAVES.

A single graphic example of what | tidal wave in Chile can do is provid- ed by the experience of an American naval officer, during a similar up- heaval, when his vessel was carried three miles up the coast, two miles inland, and dropped at the foot of a range of the Andes Mountains.
 Earthquakes and tidal waves are discussed in a bulletin from the Ma tional Geographic Society which also quotes a communication by the Read Admiral L. G. Billings, whose unpar-
 alleled adventure occurred some hun dreds of pnilEs north of the recently
 devastated towns.
 There is no natural phenomenon
 more deeply interesting and yet so
 little understood as the seismic dis
 turbances which have from earliest
 history devastated the earth and car
 ried terror and dismay into the hearts
 of all survivors" says the Bulletin. Up to 1908, it is computed by an eminent scientist, Compte de Ballore,
 there had been 15s,7s2 recorded earth quakes. Of later years, when more ac- curate records have been kept, they | have averaged a5v4lt 6S d yezr. There is comfort to the dweIlers in most of l the world to know that 94 per cent. of recorded shocks have occurred in I two narrow, we'll defined belts-one called the Mediterranean, with 53 per cent to it's credit, and, the other, the l Citcum- Pacific, with fl per cent while the remainder of the world has | only per cent. widely distributed. U. S. Had One Major Quake
 +'The United States has been singu- l lafly free from recorded seismic dis ] tprbance, perhaps the most disastrous 1 being in 1911, when very sever shock l occurred in the Mississippi Valley 1 South of the Ohio. which was felt in New York in one direction and l the West Indies in another. This earth l quate changed the face of the earth. A 1 vast extent of land was sunk, lakes l were formed, and even the course oi l the Mississippi River was obstructed
 for a time.
 Most Of the earthquakes occurring l of late years can hardly be classeG l with the great ones of history, nearly all Of the destruction being caused by l uncomfortable fires. In the more sta ble zones long periods may elapse be. tween shocks, as for instance, in King.
 ston, Jamaica, 215 years intervened. The cause of earthquakes and vol canoes is an elusive problem, not ye settled to the satisfaction of the sci l enlist. Tremors of the earth may bt caused by many things. The explo
 sion of mines, falling in of caves, slip ping of rock strata, and many other
 movements of the earth may caus
 them; but for the great shocks whicl
 have recurred almost since the his ) tory Of the world began we must leol further.
 I Still Ignorant of Causes Though many times there seem to be an intimate connection hetweel earthquakes and volcanoes, the lay regarding them has not been establish
 ed. Some remarkable coincidence have been observed in late years. Tn sl terrible uataclysm of Mount Pelee | which, on May 8, 1902, almost in 5 stantly killed 30, 900 inhabitants, wa preceded by the earthquake which i :, January and April Of the same yea , wrecked number of cities in MeKi ca and Guatemala. The distance be v tween these points is at least 200 s miles, showing how deep seated mus . have been the disturbance, if, as ha | been suggested, there was communi fl cation between them. The great Sa ' Francisco earthquake wks precede ( only two days by one of the most vic h lent efuptionS of Vesuvious reeorde T in many years. . Tt is also a significant fact that th n fuming island off the coast of Alas f ka, called Bogoslof No. 3, appeare n at almost the same time. A revenu cutter. visiting this island, was as l, tonished to see that the mountain, (
 hill, some 400 feet high, on the islam
 had disa ppeared, and in it's place + bay had been formed Soundings show g ed a depth of from to 25 fathoms l. water.
 Qvakes Preeided Great Katmai ,-1 Explosion
 al "fhe greatest of recent volcanic di t turbances which blew the top off e Mount Katmai in Alaska and ga, U birth to the wonderful Valley of T,