Recent Alaska . Upheaval More. Seveife;Than
Terrible San Francisco Quake o 1906 Shake
ups of June in Alaska, Mexico,' Chile, Japan
and Philippines, Earthquake Scientists Tell of
Their Work Quakes Since 1688.
H
I AVE you ever been, n tba Tielnfty
of an earthquaka? If yon hare.
yon win never want to go through
another experience of the kind. If yon
have not it will cause shiver to glide
op and down your spine just to read
the experience of one who has passed
through several of these terrifying
earth phenomena.
Many earthquakes occurred while the
writer was In the Philippines, especial
ly on the Island of Mindanao. His first
experience left him dased and trem
bling with the feeling, that the world
was coming to an end. It was in 1904
' when this island was shaken from end
to end by one of the greatest earth
quakes that ever occurred in that sec
tion of the globe. The ground seemed
to rise up and strike you In the face.
If you tried to stand up yod fell down.
Native shacks tumbled in all directions.
- caribous crawling along the road were
thrown down, and altogether it seemed
as if the world had gone topsy turvy.
But the peculiar part of the whole
experience was the dreadful appreben
slve feeling that seemed to smite one
upon the flrst tremor of the earth. Tou
have the same feeling, only probably
. Intensified a thousandfold, as a person
In the last stages of nervous prostra
tion. It Is a feeling as if something
frightful were going to happen, and you
are absolutely helpless In the face of
the supernatural. And this sensation
grows more intense the longer the
shock continues. It has often happened
that people have dropped dead from
heart disease due to the terrific shook
upo'n the nervous system.
Quakes In Hnr PI;
Within the last month reports have
been received of earthquakes and vol
canic eruptions in widely separated
parts of the world . Only last week
came the news of the great volcanic
eruption and earthquake in Alaska.
About the same time reports were re
ceived of a great earthquake at Jalisco
and Collma. in Mexico, which caused
much loss of life and destruction, of
property. Shortly after this came the
news of a volcanic outbreak and earth
quake in the Philippine Islands, In that
section known as Moroland, around
Mindanao and neighboring Islands. This
was followed within a few days by an
earthquake in Japan, and about the
same time several long-extinct vol
canoes in India became active. After
this dispatches reported earthquakes la
Chile. All of these quakes were ac
companied by violent volcanic erup-
- tions In ' or near the vicinity of the
shocks.
Scientists have been asked to give a
reason for the many volcanic eruptions
- and earthquakes within such a short
period of time but to all the questions
the answer Is the same: There is no
known reason to the scientlflo world."
Several times in the past it Is claimed,
phenomena of this kind have occurred
in various parts of the world, but It
is rare. - . .
The question has become a live issue
with the scientists, and they are today
Investigating the problem all over the
world. In their seal to wrest the secret
from mother earth, men have descend
ed into the depths of - volcanoes and
' walked about upon, the bed of the
- crater within a few feet of the fiery
boiling mass. Some! have even -taken
moving-picture operators to photograph
the phenomena to prove to the unbe
lieving world that they have actually
performed this unheard-of feat. They
wanted absolute proof, and thought the
best way to get It was to have a pic
ture taken whUe within the walls of
the crater.
Other -scientists, within the month,
have permitted themselves to be low
ered, into the mouth of an aotive vol
cano by means of a steel cable so that
they mlgfct take notes of the phenom
ena at close; range. These are only a
few of the .daring feats performed by
scientists recently.
Every one remembers the terrible
, Ban Francisco earthquake of 1908, with
Its less of hundreds of human lives and
the great destruction of property run
ning into millions of dollars. Men who
have made the earthquake a life study
say that' the recent quake in Alaska
was a more terrlflo shock, or rather s -rles
of shocks, than those which caused
the ruin of San Francisco. They de
clare that if a quake of such a severe
nature were to ecour'ln San Francisco
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or any other densely populated section,
the ruin and loss of human life would
be ten times greater than it was in
California. The earthquake in Alaska
in June, 191S, will stand, out promi
nently as one of the most severe ever
recorded in North America. 1
The Reeeat 4uk ) Alaska.
The towns of St. Paul and - Wood
Island, in Kadlak, Alaska, were buried
beneath two feet of lava ashes, sand
and pumice stone, and other villages
suffered in like manner. Spouting hot
ashes, flames and recks, shaking the
earth with explosions, terrifying the
natives with noises, lightning and
smoke-filled skies; a livid glare by
night extended many miles into, the
heavens and high mountains hundreds
of miles apart burst into flames and
created a reign of terror in Southwest
ern Alaska. Cordova was awakened
by a mighty rumbling and cannonading
of the mountains Lllama and Redoubt,
more than S0O miles away.
An area within a radius of 700 miles
of the volcanoes was devastated. Ashes
three and four feet deep fell about Kat
mai, and extended to Sitka, more than
TOO miles distant from the volcanoes.
Mount St Augustine was also in-active
eruption at the same time, and all the
splendid farm and grazing lands
around Kadlak were buried in an ash
deposit two feet deep. ' The villages
whose inhabitants, mostly natives, are
believed to have perished were, Cold
Bay, Katmai, Kanatuck, Douglas. Sav
enoosky and Kemgamute. All the
crops on the island were destroyed and
millions of fish were killed by the sand
and ashes that fell in the water. The
water supply was polluted by decaying
fish, while the springs wars buried un
der the ashes.
Ralph 8. Tarr and Lawrence Martin
are two of Uncle Sam's earthquake spe
cialists in the Geological Survey at
Washington. These scientists for many
years made a study of the phenomena
of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions
with special reference to the last great
Alaska earthquake of September, 1S99.
The result of their investigation has
Just been published by the survey and
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It is full of interesting Information, re
garding volcanoes in Alaska. In speak,
lng of the series of severe earthquakes
of 1899 near Takutat Bay it is claimed
that the cause of these shocks was the
growth of the St. Ellas range, one of
the youngest and loftiest mountain
ranges in the world.
Desezlptlom by Alaska Prospectors.
There were a number of prospectors
in the mountains at the time of the last
earthquake, v and the story as told by
them is full of dramatic interest.
"We were sitting in our tent at the
time," said one of them, "and in our
efforts to get outside one of the men
was piled up in a corner after being
thrown headlong over the camp stove,
while Captain Smith and I succeeded In
getting hold of the tent pole, and as
long as the shake-up lasted we held on
to keep from being thrown to the
ground. This shock must have lasted
fully three minutes, the ground cutting
up some of the queerest capers imag
inable. In addition to the circular mo
tion of the preceding heavy shock it
was waving up and down like the
swells of the sea, only with consider
able more energy." . .
Another prospector, camping a short
distance farther in the mountains, said:
"The moraine on which we were
camped swerved and undulated so that
a man could not stand. We ran from
our tents,, leaving everything behind.
The Hubbard glacier and mountain, 10
miles across its faoe, ran out Into the
bay for two miles. "About SO yards
back of the beach and 100 yards above
us was a lake about twe acres In area
and about 30 feet deep.
This . lake broke from its bed' and
rushed down on our camp, while ' we
ran along the shore to esoape its fury.
Everything went down before it. All
was buried by the thousands of tons
of rocks that came down afterward.
This deluge was almost immediately
followed by one from the sea, A wall
of water 20 feet ' high came in and
carried everything back again Into the
hills. We heard a terrible roar in the
direction of the bay ,and on looking
that way saw a tidal wave to feet high
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THE SUNDAY OREGONIAN. PORTLAND, JULY 1912.
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coming toward us, preceded by great
geysers shooting into the air , more
than 40 feet.
. Crashing; Glaciers Terrorise.
"While these great wavos were rush
ing upon the shore, the ground was
swaying and breaking in long jagged
cracks that seemed to go to the bottom
of the earth. Confronted both front
and rear by waves and floods, with the
ground trembling under our feet and
the thunder of crashing glaciers in our
ears, it is small wonder that we ran
around in a frenzy, not knowing which
way to go. fearing every second the
ground would open up and swallow us
or -the vast icebergs would fall down
and crush us. Another party of five
men camped a short distance from us
ran back and forth while the earth was
rocking and swaying like a cradle. A
stream which separated this party from
us was temDorarlly divided by the
earth auake. which permitted them to
cross over to our camp, but a little later
this same stream was.' once more a
raging torrent.
"Imagine, if you can, one's feelings
under such conditions; then add to that
the continual reports of the Ice break
ing off the glacier, the roar of the
great landslides down the sides of the
mountains every little while, the noise
of swollen mountain streams tum
bling down among loosened Icebergs,
continuous rain, with an occasional
earthquake, and the uncertainty of
what was to come next, and you can
then form some idea of the last great
earthquake in Alaska."
A better idea of the terrific char
acter of this earthquake may be con
veyed by saying that the uplift the
aotual lifting up of thousands of square
miles of the earth extended from 10 to
47 feet. What would happen if any
such uplift as this occurred in even a
small city? Houses formerly on a' level
with each other would be 47 feet higher
than the others after the quake, while
the great majority, of course, would be
total wrecks. -
Otto Klots, of the Canadian Commis
sion, and Fremont Morse, of the Ameri
can Commission, who mapped the tidal
glaciers in Alaska, said that the Mulr
Glacier had retreated more than eight
and a half miles in less than 13 years.
This retreat of the glaciers is ascribed
to earthquakes. Morse contrasts the
present and past condition of the Mulr
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glacier In this way: "Formerly the
Mulr presented a perpendicular front at
least 200 feet high, from which huge
icebergs were loosened at frequent in
tervals. The sight and sound of these
vast masses falling from the cliff or
suddenly appearing from the submarine
ice foot was something which once wit
nessed was not soon to be forgotten.
It was grand and impressive beyond
description.
The Alaska Osaka of 18M.
Almost nothing was known up to
1905 of the remarkable physical changes
effected by the earthquake of Septem
ber, 1899. The Takutat natives knew
there had been changes in the islands of
Disenchantment Bay, where they hunt
ed seal each year, but they knew
nothing more. The white prospectors
who were in this region- during the
earthquake never returned to see what
changes took place. There was but one
newspaper account of the earthquake,
and the scientists say they were totally
unprepared for the remarkable phe
nomena found upon their visit there
during the Summer of 190S.
C E. HilL a resident of Takutat at
the time of the last great earthquake.
gives a thrilling description of it. "The
shake of September 10 did all the dam
age." said Mr. Hill. "We were in our
tent and could not get up and stand
on our feet at nrst. rne mission
rocked until the church bell rang, and
if anything was needed to complete
the i terror of the , natives it was the
ringing of the bell. Just as the earth
quake ceased,--we saw a wonderful
thing happen on the bay. ' There the
water began roaring in great tidal
waves. There were three of them fol
lowing each other at Intervals of five
minutes, and we stood and watched
the bay rise 15 feet from low tide to
a foot above tne nignest iiae point.
The bay Itself was full of small pools
whirling trees, lumber and drift wood
around and around so fast the eye
could hardly follow them. They
circled like a wheel. The water was
thrown into a mass of foam. . The
whlrlDOol caught the chute of a new
sawmill below us and carried It away
in a twinkling.
Deaths Frosa Earthquake. t
"Just across from Takutat is the
Island of Kanak. Before the eartn-
n ii k an old Indian graveyara, aDoui
six feet above bleb. tide, was locate
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on this island. It was out on a point.
and suddenly we noticed the point.
graveyard and all disappear, sink out
of sight. There was in the graveyard
a very high, pole, with a cross on top,
and we soon discovered this cross way
out. with four or five feet of it stick
ing out of the water and still upright
The next day we took a boat and rowed
right over the place where the grave
yard had formerly been, ana lookea
down into the water. We could see
the taps of trees. In several places
we made soundings, but could find no
bottom. A little farther along the
shore we found marks of a number of
gigantic water spouts. They had bored
great holes in the ground, and had
carried the sand and earth inland and
scattered it a foot deep over acres of
ground. From every Indication the
force of water spouts and waves must
have been irresistible, and Takutat
must surely have been washed away
had the tidal wave Bwept the bay at
high Instead of low tide. The earth
quake was a 'magnificent sight, but
hardly one a man would hunt up lor
the sake of feeling it."
It will be seen that the Takutat Bay
earthquakes rank among the great
earthquakes of the world. But it is in
decided contrast with other earth
quakes which occur Jn places of rather
dense population. In Japan 7279 people
were killed, 17,893 injured ana more
than 200,000 buildings destroyed In the
shocks of 1891. In the Charleston
earthquake 27 persons lost their lives
and 56 others perished by cold and ex
posure. Many houses were destroyed,
and many more aamageo. During the
first of the great earthquakes of India
(Assam, 1897) praetically all the build
ings In 145,000 square miles were laid
in ruins. In the second. (Kangxa. 1905)
18,815 lives were lost, and the destruc
tion of property was enormous, 112,477
buildings being destroyed.
In California, in 1906, 200,000 people
were made homeless, but only 709 lives
were lost directly by the earthquake.
There was, however, great destruction
of buildings, largely due to fire, their
value being more than $300,000,000. In
the Riviera earthquake of 1887, 640
people were killed and more than 570
Injured. More than 60,000 people were
killed in six minutes In the historic
Lisbon earthquake of 1755, practically
the whole city being thrown down.
About 20,000 lives were lost in the,
Prolific
DISASTERS.
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great Calabrlan earthquake of 165S,
43,000 in 1693, between 82,000 and 60,000
In 1783. 800 in 1905, while the loss of
life In 1908 was more than 100,000.
Birth of Volcanic Islands.
In contrast with all this, thure uti
no recorded loss of life as a result of
the former Takutat Bay earthquakes:
and the only property damage known,
aside from the loss of a rowboat and
some tents, provisions and clothing by
the prospectors of Disenchantment
Bay, was the shifting of the roof of an
uninhabited log cabin in outer Takutat
Bay and the cracking of a few chim
neys and slight damage to a wharf in
Skagway. .
Some of the great earthquakes or
South America and New Zealand, like
wise in thinly populated districts, have -'
doubtless been much like the Alaskan
shocks in Inflicting but slight damage
to the human race.
In Alaska, and especially on the Aleu
tian Islands, there are many active
and recently extinct volcanoes. In fact,
there are so many along the coast that
record would lead to con
fusion. All the active volcanoes of Alaska
are on its southern border ana witn
few exceptions are situated close to
the sea on the Alaskan peninsula and
the Aleutian Islands.
Volcanic islands that rise overnight
and disappear the next night are. num
bered among the unusual and most puz
zling freaks of nature. But among the
Alaskan Islands this Is quite a common
occurrence. A small snot in Bering
Sea about 80 miles north of the Island
at TTmnak and 40 miles west Of tne
northern corner of Unalaska has been
the scene in recent years of more vio
lent volcanic activity and has under
gone greater changes than any other
part of Northern Aiasna. in ima spot
early in May, 1786, accompanied by
thunder, earthquake and steam, a vol
canic island was suddenly thrown up
from the depths of the sea. No longer
ago than the Summer of 1888 the wa
ters were once more convulsed and
shrouded In steam and fog, and a sec
ond volcano was born. These are
among the islands known as the Aleu
tian group. The natives of that sec
tion claim one island may be thrown
up overnight, while another disappears
and say this has continued lor many
years.
A resident oi umnaic nas given a
vivid description of how these islands
are born. He says: "One night, a few
miles away, I saw a column of smoke,
beneath which something black ap
peared to be rising. During the night
fire appeared In its place and at times
became so bright that every object
could be clearly distinguished for miles
around. Then an earthquake shook
our island with terrific roaring from
the mountains at the south. The rising
island tossed stones a distance of 30
miles. At sunrise the earthquake
ceased, the flames diminished, and the
newly-risen Island was seen, shaped
like a black pointed cap. A montb
later it had risen considerably higher.
Meanwhile fire was thrown up con
tinuously. 'While the flames gradually
died out, the smoke and steam con
tinued for four years and eight years
later seal hunters found the water
warm' and the ground so hot that no'
one could walk upon It. That is how
the island was born."
(Copyright, 1912, by William I Alt
dorfer.) ' .