THE JAMAICA EARTHQUAKE 



397 



beautiful mountain road from Kingston to Newcastle was in the line 

 of greatest intensity. But though spurs showed considerable destruc- 

 tion and in places the road slipped off the face of the steep slopes (Fig. 

 11), or portions of the hills slipped down on the road carrying it 

 away or obliterating it by landslides in many places, yet the destruc- 

 tion was caused more by the unstable position of the road, or of these 

 masses of earth, rather than by the intensity of the shock. At New- 

 castle, moreover, the buildings for the most part were not damaged to 

 any great extent, except as their location on a terraced slope or on the 

 crest of a short divide would place them in a position of unstable 

 equilibrium. Similar destruction might be caused by a severe rain- 



Fig. 11. Destruction of the Beautiful Carriage Road to Newcastle, built on 

 the steep slopes of the Blue Mountains. 



storm, or, in the northern countries, by frost action as well as by earth- 

 quake waves. 



From the investigation of the many cracked walls at Kingston, the 

 amplitude of the wave motion (as one might expect on alluvial founda- 

 tions) was considerable. Spaces from half an inch to two inches were 

 left in massive walls. Floors and ceilings were pulled from the shal- 

 low supports in many cases and caused destruction in more instances 

 than would have been necessary had there been greater foresight used 

 in the manner of building. From an open circular well of masonry 

 some twenty feet in diameter water was thrown up some eight feet and 

 over the northeastern lip of this well. A brick pier in a fence was 

 thrown to the eastward beyond its arc, some two thirds the length of 

 its radius. At the same place large slabs of marble were moved along 



