142 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CALIFORNIA 



short intervals elapsing between. The motion was apparently from the west- 

 ward. 

 February 15th, 5h. 25m. — A severe shock of an earthquake was felt in San 



Francisco, the duration of which was about eight seconds. Persons sleeping 



were aroused, and many persons left their beds and sought the street. There 



were two distinct shocks, the second very light and scarcely perceptible. The 



motion was undulatory and vertical, and at the end of the first shock a very 



strong, profound jar, with which it ceased. 



The upper part of a building on Battery Street, for seventy feet in length, 

 was thrown down, the whole of which was above the cornice, very thin, and the 

 mortar with which it was constructed had not become hardened, being easily 

 removed by the fingers — it more resembled wet sand than a firm mortar. 



There appears to have been but little difference in the sensation of persons 

 situated either in upper or basement stories. 



It was preceded by a deep, heavy rumbling, and the motion apparently came 

 from the north-west. A distinct shock was felt at eight minutes past two o'clock 

 the same morning, by persons who were awake and up at the time. 



The rotatory movement was shown in the fact that small square bottles and 

 boxes that stood upon a line, were moved from their position horizontally, de- 

 scribing an arc of thirty degrees and upwards, as shown by the dust upon the 

 shelves on which they stood. 



The first wave came with a force sufficient to project small articles three or 

 four feet on the floor, from shelves on which they were placed ; they were ap- 

 parently all thrown in the same direction. Several clocks were stopped at pre- 

 cisely 5 hours 25 minutes. 



All the cracks in walls and ceilings had a direction nearly north-west and 

 south-east, and most of them had the appearance of having been produced at 

 the moment of elevation. 



The earthquake was felt heavily at Monterey, at five hours twenty minutes ; 

 it was also felt at Bodega, but no time is given. 



The vessels on the coast, and ranging from San Pedro on the south to South- 

 ern Oregon, and at distances varying from eight to one hundred miles from land, 

 did not experience any shock. They were twenty-two in number. 



Up to the present date the most northern point of which we have any record 

 of its having been felt, is at Santa Rosa, which is fifty-three miles north of San 

 Francisco, and at Monterey, ninety miles south of the latter place ; to the east 

 of this city we have no record beyond Stockton. This would give for its length 

 one hundred and forty-three miles, and its breadth sixty-six miles. 



Inquiry was made through the State line Telegraph at El Dorado, Nevada, 

 Downieville, Placerville, Marysville, Sacramento, Stockton, and San Jose ; it 

 was not felt in any of the localities named, excepting the two last, and at Stock- 

 ton it was quite light. 



If the time as given at Monterey was the same as at this city (San Fran- 

 cisco), the velocity of the earth-wave must have been much slower than that of 

 the great earthquake at Simoda. 

 March 24th, 22h. 20m.— A slight shock was felt at Canal Gulch, Siskiyou 



County, also at Yreka. The motion is described as being horizontal. 



