The history of the San Francisco disaster and Mount Vesuvius horror . ible by delicate instruments. Oc-casionally an extra large area, long undermined, is heldup by an obstruction of some sort. When, at last,it gives way a powerful commotion is caused. Eithera tidal wave sweeps the coasts or an earthquake shakesthe land, such as felled San Francisco, or both , Oregon, California, Nevada, Arizona, andthe southern half of New Mexico are involved in thegreat Pacific fault, as is Mexico and most of Texas. Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, the eastern portions ofSouth Dakota, Nebraska and K
The history of the San Francisco disaster and Mount Vesuvius horror . ible by delicate instruments. Oc-casionally an extra large area, long undermined, is heldup by an obstruction of some sort. When, at last,it gives way a powerful commotion is caused. Eithera tidal wave sweeps the coasts or an earthquake shakesthe land, such as felled San Francisco, or both , Oregon, California, Nevada, Arizona, andthe southern half of New Mexico are involved in thegreat Pacific fault, as is Mexico and most of Texas. Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, the eastern portions ofSouth Dakota, Nebraska and Kansas and the northernhalf of New Mexico have little to fear from seismicdisturbance. From this line of immunity to the Atlantic coast aseries of lesser faults make earthquakes possible at anytime, though up to the time of the Charleston earth-quake the Atlantic coast rested in fancied security. Coasts and islands are favorite locations for faults,and ocean bottoms seem to be comparatively weakspots in the crust. It is theoretically possible for a fault to heal and. ? t *&mm m Bi^Bfv 3 « %9 III -.^sh^I^^I ?P H P -III 111 ? _. _ .-II S Mr ?? I mZMM 1111 EM IP *• ?? n 8ti™inVii%ii:itfim £^H %. THE SAN FRANCISCO DISASTER 415 bring immunity to the surface districts, above andaround it, but scientific study of the earth is not oldenough to record such an event. In the meantime, inforecasting the probability of earthquakes, the past hasproved an almost unfailing index of the future. The libraries of the world are full of accounts ofseismic disturbances. Since earthquakes began to bestudied in the science observatories in the last fiftyyears, a mass of extraordinary facts have been col-lected, many of which have completely stumped the ex-perts to explain. It is an established fact, but not at all understood,that birds and animals can foretell the coming of anearthquake. Before the disturbances in Chili in 1822and 1835 immense flocks of sea birds flew screechingabout as if crazed
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