THE DEATH-RATE OF EARTHQUAKES 249 



back, from end to end and from foundation to roof, so that the 

 whole may vibrate practically as one mass. Public buildings 

 should be of this type ; but in the case of ordinary dwelling- 

 houses the expense of such methods would be prohibitive. 

 Fortunately, approximate safety in such cases may be secured 

 by other and less costly means. During his long and fruitful 

 residence in Japan, Prof. Milne determined the principal con- 

 ditions which should govern construction and the following 

 description of an ideal house is founded on the conclusions at 

 which he then arrived. 



The houses are built in wide streets, with deep foundations 

 and are not as a rule more than two storeys high. The walls 

 are at once light and strong. They consist of a framework of 

 wooden beams, firmly braced together, the intervening spaces 

 being filled with light stone or hollow bricks. There are no 

 gable-ends and the corners of the houses are specially 

 strengthened. Nor are there any arches, except perhaps in the 

 cellars and then they are high, curve into the abutments and are 

 protected above by a lintel of wood or iron. The openings for 

 doors and windows in successive storeys are not placed in a 

 vertical line and are at some distance from the corners of the 

 house. The roofs are light and low-pitched and all tiles, if used, 

 are fixed by nails. The floor-beams in alternate storeys are at 

 right angles and penetrate nearly the whole thickness of the 

 walls. Chimneys, if forming part of the house, are short and 

 thick and without heavy ornamental copings ; if in the centre, 

 they penetrate the roof without touching it. Balconies are 

 altogether absent and the staircases, if connected with the main 

 walls, are light. No portions of the house are allowed to vibrate 

 separately from the rest and with different periods. The one 

 object throughout is to produce a light, strong and fairly elastic 

 house, which, in the day of trial, shall vibrate as a whole and, 

 while bending before the shock, shall yet endure. 



How greatly such methods may contribute to the saving 

 of life has been admirably illustrated by Prof. Omori in his 

 recent report on the Messina earthquake. On October 28, 

 1891, a violent earthquake devastated the provinces of Mino and 

 Owari in Japan. The shock was more than four times as strong 

 as the Messina earthquake and was felt over an area ten times 

 as great but the total number of victims was only 7,273. Not far 

 from the origin of the earthquake lies the city of Nagoya with a 



