ABOUT EARTHQUAKES.
Those mild yearnings of terrestrial
bowels which are felt periodically in
California, and recently "shook up" our
dear Oregon, can hardly be called earth
quakes, though the term admits of no
degree of comparison. These demon
strations which engulf a city or break
the china on the kitchen dresser, has
but one word to describe it. There is
no doubt that our Pacific Coast earth
quakes arc miserably deficient in sin
cerity and other positive qualities.
They may be confounded with the
rumbling of distant wheels, or a passing
gust of wind, and are not felt outside
the walls of our dwellings which latter
are not in themselves types of perfect
security. People are very apt to think
little of the force that shakes the walls
of their tenements who are familiar
with the daily spectacle of two-story
dwellings propelled quietly through
the thoroughfares of their city. Your
true earthquake, on the contrarv. is ant
to unset all preconceived theories of
stability, attacks people on the street,
grips the ground under their feet with
a firm hand, and overthrows with them
such time-honored figures of rhetoric
as "the sure and firm set earth," terra
tirma and the like.
It may he, however, that even such
equivocal demonstrations as are felt on
this coast, are sufficient to satisfy some
people. The theory of gravitation was
probably made as patent to Xewton by
the fall of the pippin as if be had been
"bonuetted" by a boulder. Hut when
we finished the reading of the re
porters' account of the latest earth
quake, it occurred to us that it may be
instructive to turn back to the descrip
tion of another, which unfortunately
left few intelligent survivors to record
it. The earthquake at Lisbon on the
ist of November, 1755, was of such a
character.
The weather for some days previous
to the fatal event had been clear and
very warm for the season, and the
morning of the ist of November itsebf
was ushered in with a brilliant sun and
a cloudless sky. A few minutes after
nine o'clock, a rumbling noise was
heard like distant thunder, which
gradually increased until it excelled the
loudest roar of cannon; and then oc
curred the first shock. It shook the
city to its foundations, and overwhelmed
the inhabitants with consternation. The
houses waived to and fro witli such
violence that the upper stories Immedi
ately fell, anil crushed their occupants
and the passengers in the streets to
death. 'I he motion of the earth was
so vehement that it was impossible to
stand upright, and the effects of so un
expected and frightful a concussion
were rendered doubly terrific by a thick
gloom which overspread the light of
dav. 1 housaiuN rushed into the streets
to escape being buried in the ruins of
their dwellings, ami made their way
over heaps of rubbish to the great
square in front of St. Paul's church, to
he out ol the reach ot lulling stones.
The great church of St. Paul's itself
had fallen, and involved an immense
multitude in its destruction. The 1st
of November was the festival of All
Saints, and from an early hour the
churches had been crowded with
devotees ami ecclesiastics. Most of
these, in the act of religious worship,
were at once killed or miserably man
gled. Such of their congregations as
escaped, including many dignitaries of
the church in their episcopal and purple
garments, rushed to the hide of the
river as to a place of comparative safety.
Priests in their sacerdotal vestments,
ladies half dressed or with tattered
clothe., and an immense concourse of
people of all ranks and ages, were here
assembled, supplicating Heaven ujon
their knees, and with agonizing hhouts
rcqwating their Mtseracordia mcu
Dios. In the midst of their anguish
and their devotions, the second great
shock came on, nearly as violent as the
first, completing the work of destruc
tion. The general consternation was
at its height, and the shrieks and cries
of Mhcracordia resounded from one
end of the town to the other. The
church on the top of St. Catharine's
Hill, after rocking to and fro, fell with
a tremendous crash, and killed great
number, who had sought protection on
that eminence. Hut the most terrible
THE WEST
consequence of the tKi- r-11
u ; ..l ;
o,. those at the water's sido. On a .ltd-
S 'l'IT !" b '
. . ., uo uum itu hi ucae an
swell In a most unaccountable manner,
since no wind was stirring at the time.
In an instant there appeared at some
small distance a large body of water
rising like a mountain, which came on
foaming and roaring, rushing towards
the shore with fearful impetuosity.
The crowd attempted to retire before
it, hut the motion of the water was too
quick to permit escape in so dense a
throng. The volume of water burst
upon them, and sucked back into its
tremendous vortex, nmid shrieks and
wailings, the defenceless multitude.
A magnificent quay that hail been re
cently built of rough marble at a vast
expense, was at this moment entirely
swallowed up witli all the people on
it who had crowded there for refuge.
Numberless boats and small vessels,
likewise, which were anchored near it,
and were full of persons who had
thrown themselves into them with the
idea that the place of greatest safety
was on the water, were all swept away,
leaving no trace behind.
In the meantime, the ships in the
river were tumbled and tossed about as
in a storm ; some broke their cables and
were carried to the other side of the
Tagus; others were whirled round with
Incredible swiftness; several large boats
were turned keel upwards; and all this
terrible commotion occurred without
any wind, which rendered it the more
astounding. According to the account
of a shipmaster w ho encountered the
concussion and survived its dangers, the
whole city of Lisbon, as surveyed from
the river, was waving backwards and
forwards like the sea when the wind
first begins to rise; that the agitation
of the earth was so great, even under
the river, that it threw up his large
anchor from the mooring, and carried
it to the surface of the water; and that
immediately the river rose near twenty
feet, and us instantly subsided. Upon
this event he saw the quay with the
whole concourse of people upon it sink
down, and at the same time every one
of the boats and vessels near it was
drawn into the cavity, which instantly
closed upon them, so that not the least
sign of a wreck was ever seen after
wards. It is worthy of remark, that
this noble quay was the onlv place in
Lisbon that was entirely swallowed
UP,
nly
the destruction in otru
parts only
amounting to demolition.
After all the devastations and horrors
of the two preceding shocks, the measure
of misfortune might seem at its full.
Hut a third shock was still in store to
complete the misery of the wretched
population. It was somewhat less
violent than the two former, though
the water rushed in again and retired
with the same rapidity. Such was the
impetuosity with which the river was
moved, that some vessels were cntt
upon dry ground that had ridden in
seven fathoms of water. This alternate
rising and sweeping back of the waters
was repeated several time, committing
on each occurrence extensive injury anil
destruction. At this period it was gen
erally believed that the city of Lisbon
was doomed to be entirely swept from
the face of the earth.
Hut the earthquake had now com
pleted its ravages, and gave place to a
raging element not less inexorable and
detolatlngi In a hundred places at
once the Haines burst forth with such
fury that the whole city appeared in a
blaze. The commencement of the con
rtagration was owing not so much to
the discharge of subterranean fires,
which issued from fissures in the c;irth,
as to other circumstances which ren
dered it inevitable. As is usual in
Catholic OOUnttieS on days of high
festival, every altar in every church
and chapel was illuminated with
tapers ami lamps and these tailing with
the curtains and tinilwr work during
1 -
the convulsion, soon gave a beginning
to the tire. The neighboring buddings
caught the (lames already kindled by
, u 1,1 e J . . , ,f
kitchen and other tires m private dwell-
ings, and spread them throughout the
city. The destruction of life and prop -
- , . , a 'I
erty during the conflagration was al-
most equal to that Caused by the earth-
uiiake. since it was six davs before It
was tinallv arretted and extinguished.
The total loss of life in these several
disasters isestim.te.1 variously at from
30,000 to 60,000 souls.
To enumerate and treat in detail ,
the great shakes of history would re-
SHORE.
1 -..i ... .
, nunc more nine ami space
limit, of a newsnaoer ' arti,
't the earthquaW a, Messina claim
attention as a representative one, and
cannot very well be dismissed in a
paragraph. This city.situated hetween
Mount Etna and the Charybdis, and at
no great distance from the volcanoes of
Lipari and Stromboli, must have been
in all ages liable to suffer by earth
quakes. It escaped tolerably well how
ever from the earthquake of 1693,
which destroyed a fourth part of the
cities of Sicily, and also from the other
convulsions to which that portion of
the earth was subject until the year
1783. The autumn of the preceding
year was unusually cold and rainy.
Fahrenheit's thermometer was often as
low us 56 degrees. The succeeding
winter was dry ; and the mercury never
tell under 55 degrees: and what is un
common in that season, storms were
now and then observed to rise from the
west. The pilots in the channel ob
served that the tides no longer rose at
their usual periods, and the gulf of
Charybdls raged with extraordinary
fury. On the 5th of February, 1783,
the air was heavy and calm; "the sky
obscured with thick clouds, and the at
mosphere seemingly all in a flame.
About half-past twelve at noon, the
earth began to shake with a dreadful
noise. The shocks continually in
creased, and became at length so violent
as to open the ground, and to overturn,
in two or three minutes, a considerable
part of the buildings. A long white
cloud appeared to the northwest ; and
soon after another, very dark, in the
same quarter of the heavens. The lat
ter in a moment spread over the whole
horizon, and deluged the city with rain
and hail, accompanied with dreadful
claps of thunder. The inhabitants tied
in the utmost terror to the fields and
the ships in the harbor. From mid
day till five in the afternoon the earth
quakes continued almost without inter
ruption. The shocks then became
somewhat less frequent. The cries of
the dying; the shrieks of thoc who
were half buried under the ruins; the
wild terror with which others, who
wre still able, attempted to make their
escape; the despair of fathers, mothers,
and husbands, bereft of those who were
deurest to them; these formed alto
gether a scene of horror, such as can
but seldom occur in the history of the
calairtttles of the human race. Amid
that awful scene, instances of the most
heroic courage and the most generous
affection were displayed. Mothers, re
gardless of their own safety, rushed into
every danger to snatch their children
from death. Conjugal and filial affec
tion prompted deeds not less desperate
and heroic. Hut no sooner did the
earthquake cease than the poor wretches
who had escaped began to feel the in
fluence of very different passions. When
they returned to visit the ruins, to seek
out the situation of their fallen dwell
ings, to impure into the state of their
families, to procure food ami collect
some remains of their former fortunes
ouch as found their circumstances the
most wretched suddenly became ani
mated with rage, which nothing but
wild despair could inspire. The dis
tinction of ranks and the order of so
ciety were disregarded, and property
eagerly violated. Murdn, rapine, and
lawless robbery, reigned am rig the
smoking ruins.
Till succeeding day . 11 . . : y dl-
trau uf this dreadful night . the lew wretches who
till survived, found them wives destitute uf every
At length order was m tome degrae
re-establmhul; nd in twu dayi fw every person
wu supplied at least with tome small portion uf
the necessaries (or tub-utence. But noue aa yet
thought of returning to take up their abode among
the ruin. The common people tixed their resi
dence on the plain uf 1'urto Kalvo, near the tuwn
of ttalleo; tha noblea, magistrates, and merchant!,
on auoiuor piain, uu me other sino ol Hie sueam
I Home violent shocks, winch were again felt on the
M" ' nrf sad the 2Sth of u
rnno ae ljtiio; MM trie soldiers at Terra Nuevo
I completed the destruction of the city. The mrii
and the public oveni and the aqueducts were hut
! lltU" injured From thtee htm it mm perhaps be
inferred thai, had not the houses if Mcmuii beeL,
in r,ier,i, hastily bullt t lht) nnt aud BtVr:
j ward eareleaaly raptured, fewer of them would
, bn overthrown by the earthquake.
IMS earthquake was nut ol a momentary dura-
I tion.like that by which Liabon wu destroyed, at.d
"v mh.-m Por more than Mgfcy days, from the
1 J ol J'""" jfetfjjjrltL ftfi ftt
una continued to be shaken, and at that time frit
j mora then two hundred hock., and even after
I SSSl panod the alarm wu again and again re.
W&J. ?
.itbin tb. tug ufl.r.tl 1
tb. ful of tha 1
' ol th. Oiurab ot FwpWT, Only Uu mOj wt
! " . bad ....nd o.
i tTtSiSi 'SS
I I'orto Franco were hkewiea vary mneb I
SLuSLtSjSi El EVlZ
felt down; but on the other aide, when it it
39
fouuded on a rock, it stood unmoved by all the
shock of the eiirthtiu;ike.
Sir William Hamilton, who traveled into Cal
Ml immediately aftor UM Mlftqwks, srrived at
this ill-fated apot on the Kith ot May, and hit ob
eervatioua we thai) here transcribe. He found
that all the beautiful Iront of the raUaaetta, which
eitemled in very lofty uniform Uildinfrt, in tha
shape of a creaoent, had been in aome pntta totally
ruined, in others leas; at.d there were cracka in
the earth of the quay, a part of which had sunk
above a foot below the level of the sea. The hows
ing of the dotf in the streets uf Mesainn, a little
MSBN the eartlutuuke were so loud and terrific
that ordera weit sent to kill them; and it ia n d'
that during the earthquake tire had been eeen to
iaaue from the cracka of the quay; but our author
ia persuaded Unit this, as m other OSStSj was a
vapor charire,! with electric tiro, or a kind of in
flammable air. Hera also he wis informed, that
the shock of the oth of February had been from
the bottom upwards; but the subsequent ones gen
erally hrmaniiti.l (,r rcrttw.. A remarkable cir
cumstance was observed at Messina, ami thruuKli
the whole coast ot Culnbria, which had been most
iitTected by the oarthtiuake, vU, that a small lish
BUM cicirelli, resembling tho English white-bait,
but larger, which usually lie at the bottom ot tho
ea, buried in the saud, had, after the commence
ment to the time thai account wan whiten, con.
tiuued to be taken near tho turface, and that in
such ahundauoe m to be common food for the poor
est sort uf people: whereas before the earthquako
this ttsh was rare, and reckoned among the great
est delicactr. Fish t! all kinds were alto taken
in greater ahuudauou on these ooaiti alter tho
ct)niFm.ncemeiit of the earthquake than before;
winch Sir William tupposes to have been occa
sioned eithtir by the, volcanic matter having heated
the bottom of tbu sea, or that the continual
tremor of the earth han forced them out of their
retreata.
The disaatrouH nil of this earthquake waa
scarcely completed, u,e chasm which it hud
opened in the unuind were still yawning, aud the
poor inhabitauts of the adjacent country ttill
trembled with terror, when the elements again
renewed thoir fury to ravage this miserable land.
Uu Tuesday tho tilh of January, 1784, about sun
rise, the wind bogaii to blow softly from tha north
east. Thu sea gradually swelled, rose beyc nd its
ld with rapid impetuosity, overflowed the qusy
of Messina, and lashed wiih its billows the ruins
of the l'alazxotta. It loosened and displaced many
of the stones of the mole, spread over the whole
-h..!, and attacked the pedestals of the statues,
which had bemi spared by the enrthqnako and
still ItOOtl firm among the ruins. The same furi
ous wiud which swoileil the sea in so extraor
dinary a maimer, ravaged the whole coast from
Messina all tho way to Sncuao.
The accounts of eye-witueses- if this term Can
be apphml to people in situations which tai tho
eiitirti senses -possess a peculiar interest. The,
author ot ll,.,-.- 'I'rocth, who eujoyetl an earth
quake experienco at .utile in the year la-D, gives
the following Idea how it feels;
'When the servant led mo to my room, he left a
largo brass lamp lighted un a DOadtMM carved
talile on the opposite side to tbat 011 which I slept.
My bud, as is iiMiial in this bland, waa without a
canopy, and open aliove. As soon as I got into It,
I lay for sumo tune gating on the otiling, with
many pleating ideas of persons ami things Boating
on my mind; even tho giotetquu figures wore
source of amusement to me; and I remember fall
ing IntO S dlUflhUu. lltop while I was yet making
out faQotOd rSMUbbllON to man) persons 1 win
ac pi ai 11 ted Willi.
"The tiextsriiMtion I reeollci t wis 0110 fn.lei
cribably tremendous. The lump whs still hnrn
iug, but the whole room was 111 motion. Tho
figures on tho ceiling soemed to bf animated, iwt
were changing places; presently they wete dc
taehed from above, an l, with large fragments of
the cornice, fell aptTB me ami about the room. Ail
indefinable melnuclioly humming sound seem ! to
issue from the earth and run along thu oufstdo of
the house, with a euse of vibration that communi
cated an intolerable, norvoiis feuling; and t SSDl ii
enced a fluctuating moiinii, which threw me from
aide to side, as it I wen still 011 board the trifat.
and overtaken by a sitinn. Tho house now seemed
rent aumler with u violent crush A large portion
ot tho wall fell in, split ntg splinters the oak
table, oitimtiiinlH.I thu lamp, aiuf left mo in total
daikun-ts; while at the same in.laiit the thick
walls opeiiej about me, and the blue sky, with ,v
bright star, bet nine for a moment visible through
one uf the chimins. I now threw off my bedclothta
hi I attempted to -snipe from the tottering hri-e;
but the ruins of the wall and ceiling had so choked
up the passage that 1 could not oen the door. IN
I again ran back tu my 1hI, and Instinctively
pulled over my face the thick coverlid, to prnt-ct
it frm the falling fragment
'Up to Ibis period 1 had nut the most litint
c inception of the cause of (his ooiiimutiou. Tho
whole had passed in a few seconds, yt such wat
the effect of cacti cirniinriaucu that tbsf Itft M
my mind aa distant an impression aa if the sur.w s
nun of in) ideas had lieeu slow and regular. Still
I could assign no rem on for it but that the houso
waa going to t ill, till an incident occurred which
caused the truth to tKah at nuoe on my mind.
There stood in the square opposite the I'aUuo
tall, aleuder U , I. of a (Ireek church, C0Dtuinln
a ring of blls, which t hail remarked ia the div;
IhsK now began to jangle with a wild, unearthly
sound, aa if some powerlul band hat) seised the
edition below, and was ringing the belli hyiUkhnf
the steeple. Then it was that I had the flrtt dis
tinct conception of my situation.
-I found tbat the earthquake we had t.ilktd so
lightly uf wu actually come I lult tbat I was In
the midst ul one of the.,- awful visitations which
deatroy thousand in a mo man t- where the i . t
inteudiug baud of (tod sasuis foi 4 m a u to with
draw itself, and the frame uf the earth is mrTVre.l
to tumble into ruins by its own eoavuliiona. I
cannot describe my sensation when I thus w
snd felt around me the wreck of nature, and that
with a deep aud hrm conviction on my mind tbat
to me that moment waa tha end of tha woild. I
had before It s . 1 death in the fate im many wiya,
ami hail reason mot than our to famillaiii mi
to his appearance, but this was nettling liko tho
ordinary thoughts or apprehensions ol dvin in
the oommon way; tha eeniatioui were u different
as an earthquake and a fever.
"Hut this horrible convulsion teased in a ino
mDt, as suddenly aa it began, awl dead ami
solemn silence ensued. This was eooa broken hy
the sound of lamentations, which tame fr m be
low; and 1 afterward fouad it to proceed from
the inhabiUuts ol au adjoiuing bouaa, which ha.1
-ft. ahaken down, and cruhed to death '...
and half bmiad olbara who ware tryiag to escape,
in tha ruins. 1'res.ntiy 1 a light through tho
crevioa of the door uf my chamber, aad heard tho
sound of Toioea outside. It proteeded from tho
servaata, who cam to I - k for asa asaottg tfst
ruins. As they could not enter by ta usual door
way, which waa choked up, they proceeded round
to aoffthar, but when they saw tha room Sliest
with tha wrecks ol tha wall and tha selling, sons
of which wen lying on tha bed, one ef thin satd,
SaiT9Mttn' ttfth seAio-aaSff - thara he Is,