322 ^ FOTO: CATSE OF THE GREAT 



IV. Views of Others as to the Cause oTlhe Earthquake. 



After tlie o:irlh(|Li:ike seventl sngo-oslioiis as to its ])rol):i1)le 

 cause appeared in the newspapers. It will suffice to notice two 

 of these. 



Since no volcanic outljurst had occurred it was felt by many 

 that the eartli(juake must have h;id its origin in the downfall 

 of a supcTÎncundjent inass of rock into some subterranean liollow. 

 Among those who ad\an<'ed suHi a view of the matter is tlie 

 diicf of the Meteorological Oljservatory in <iifii, ^Ir. Tguchi. 

 C onnnis.>;ioned by the Local (iovei'nment, lie visite*] the Xeo \alley 

 a few days ;dYer the e\ent, in order to make in\esfig;itions on 

 the sj^ot under Avhich lay [)rol)ably the seat of origin of the 

 shocks. The lacts stated in his i-eport are interesting and cui'i(^us. 

 The account of them I'uns as fjllows : — 



At tlie foot of tlio mountain of Ilaku-san (Gongenyaiua). l.Sll m. liigli. ^vhic•ll 

 stands oil tlio border of the two provinecs of Eehizon and Mino, lies Fn.ii-tani in 

 West Neo-mnra, a division of tlie Ono district of Clifa rref('etare. It is aljout 20 

 kilometres or Ö rl froni the summit of Haku-san, with chains of hills rising on 

 two sides of it. In this place, some iifty years ago, there appeared two or three 

 lioles, measuring (! or 8 feet across. When stones were tlm^wn into these tissures 

 reverberations caused by their falling could be heard, it is said, for several mi- 

 nutes, from which it may be inferred that the hssures extended to a depth of many 

 hundred feet. At thirty-tive minutes past six. on the morning of the 28th of 

 October, simultaneoiisly with a deafening noise, enormous landslips in the two 

 chains of hills bounding the district took -place. Clouds of dust were thrown up 

 like smoke, to a great height, darkening the whole region, and in many places 

 the contour of the hills was perceptibly clianged. At the base of the liills the 

 consecjuences were not less marked. Houses and iields in the vicinity of Naga- 

 inine, Tenjindö, Midori, and Itasho were disturbed, l)ridges felh roads were obli- 

 terated, and tho general features of the landscape were radically changed. The 



