Albuquerque morning journal., 1922-02-01
EARTH OFF ITS
CENTER; POLES
SHIFTED, CLAIM
Of BIOLOGISTS
Millions of Tons of Rocks
"SIip," Probably Some
where in Pacific Ocean,
to Even Things Up,
MANY EARTHQUAKE
SHOCKS RECORDED
instruments in 0bSevatorieS
Are DemOralized By the
VbratiOnSi No Tidal
Waves Are Reported

New York, Jan. 3l.-The earth,
in it's whirl through space, got oft
center a few moments today and
shifted it's poles" or axis, to fit
the new center Of rotation.
Then, that it might not be trav-
cling on a flat Wheel so to
speak, a few million tons of solid
rock, somewhere off the western
coast of the United States, in the
bed of the Pacific ocean. slipped
millimeter and half to even
things up.
This is the manner in which
professors of geology and seismO-
graphic observers account for the
violent earth vibrations which de-
mOralized instruments in Obserya-
tories today. Thus far the exact
location of the huge slip" has not
been determined, although observ-
crs from Washington, D. c., 10
Berkeley, Calf, agree it probably
was a few hundred miles off the
mouth of the Columbia river
Absence OF a record disruption
Of the visible surface OF the earth
or of the huge tidal waves which
usually radiate from the scene Of
an earthquake, led observers to be-
Iieve that the slip" occurred miles
below the bed Of the ocean.
Machine Set i'm Motion.
Its violence was attested by the
quavering seismographs which, in
some instances, were thrown from
the recording rolls, while strong
machine at Berkeley was set "a
motion for the first time in many
years
mo doubt the earth was re-
adjusting ITSELF" said Professor J.
J. Lynch, seimographic observer at
Fordham university here.
About every so often the earth
becomes upset, goes off center.
changes its aXi~ and usually, about
the same time, there is a violent
earthquake, a slipping of miles of
strata, and we go merrily along
agaiu"
The Andes, along the Pacific
coast in South America. and the
Chain of Rocky determinations
which join the two continents dis.
appearing into the sea off South
ern California, are continually
lifting, falling and "slipping," ac-
cording to the seismologist and the
geologist.
Many Of these disturbances take
place in mid-ocean the only visible
evidence being the zig-zag lines
trailed by a seismograph hundreds
or miles distant. One fthe most
notable examples of such a paroX-
ysm occurred in December, 1920,
and scientists still are cudglinr
their brains to account for the
lost earthquake. It's source OF
origin never has been definitely
established, although it was OF
such proportions as to shatter In
struments thousands of miles
away, and to send a tida, wave cir
cling the earth; a few ,days later
came news of an earthquake in
kan-Fu province, China, in which
1000 persons perished. Scientists
asserted there probably had been
TWO distinct upheavals, probably
on opposite sides of the globe.
Lost" Earthquakes.
Lost earthquakes taking place
in mtd-ocean often cause vast
chang'J in the appearance of the
ocean bed which are not discov-
cred for years.
Such earthquakes are freouent
near the West Indies and beneath
the Pacific westward of the Amar-
icas to the chain of sunken moun-
tains which form the Janapesa
archipelago. ~
The first major catastrophe by
e3rthquake or volcanic eruption
n Il tot