352 



B. KOTO : CAUSE OF THE GKEAT 



Darstellungen, vermutliet hahe, urn Faltenhiklung an der Oherßäclte, sondern 

 nur um das Hervordringen von Grundwasser und des Ncwlisitzen eines 

 scharf abgegrenzten Theiles des scldammigen Bodens.'^ Sues.s explain« in 

 similar manner tlie formation of the ' suidv countrg ' of New Madrid, the 

 depreä.sion of Baikal Lake, and those subsidence« at the mouths of the 

 Ganges and the Ijrahnr.iputra, at the time of violent earthquakes. 

 Tliey vere not, according to him, connected villi deep-seated movements 

 altering the relative level of sea and land. 



The great fault of Xeo, by which I mean that long line of earth- 

 rent which traverses a distance of 112 kilometres from the Kiso- 

 gawa to the city of Fukui, cutting the hills, mountains, and plains 

 alike with remarkable regularity and sharpness, is clearly not like that 

 of the Ullah Bund, caused by the mere settling of superficial Alluvial 

 soil. 



The sudden elevations, depressions, or lateral shiftings of large 

 tracts of country which take place at the time of destructi^'e earth- 

 quakes are usuallij considered as the effects rather than the cause of subter- 

 ranean commotions ; hut in mg opinion, it can he confidenthj asserted that 

 the sudden formation of tiie ''great fault of Xeo' iras tlie actual cause of 

 tlie great earthqiud^e of tJie '^titlt of Octoher, 1891, u-lticli sliool- an area 

 comprising 213,055 S'piare kilometres, or more than 60"/,, of tlie tvliole extent 

 of the Empire of Japan ; that is to say, an area equal to those of the 

 British Isles, Holland, and Denmark put together. 



It is an established tenet of li-eolonfv that a sudden f udtin^- of the 

 eu'th's crust will cause a shaking which is designated by the general 

 term of tectonic eartliquale. The faults resulting from tangential 

 movements are of two classes, those running parallel to the strike of 

 rock-complexes, across the axis of mountain-ranges. All kinds of 

 tectonic earthquake are usually considered destructive and extensive, 

 as compared with those caused by a depression or by a volcanic 



