EARTHQUAKES ON THE PACIFIC COAST 237 



by subterranean rumblings, followed by a discharge as from 

 an artillery, which shakes the earth for nearly half a minute at 

 a time. The recent outbreak of the subocean volcano off the 

 Pacific coast, in Guerrero, is ascribed as the reason for the fright- 

 ful demonstrations. — -S. F. Examiner, March 2, 1895. 



1805. March 1; at sea, off the Mendocino (Cal.) coast; longitude 

 125° 20', latitude 40°. 



The recent earthquake which was reported as having disturbed 

 the inhabitants of jNIendocino proved to be a veritable terror at 

 sea, according to the stories told by the crews of the schooners 

 Volant and C. T. Hill, which have just arrived from that section 

 of the coast. 

 The Volant was about 52 miles off the Mendocino coast, in the 

 vicinity of Shelter Cove, when she encountered the shake-up. It 

 took place a few minutes before 1 o'clock on the morning of 

 March 1. The sea had been quite calm all night, but the breeze 

 kept up well. The first warning of the earthquake came in the 

 form of a deafening roar which seemed to rise out of the sea. 

 In an instant the ocean was lashed into a mass of foam, and in 

 spots it rose in great geyser-like columns. The schooner stopped 

 with a crash and then shook for fully two minutes. Every tim- 

 ber and bolt groaned and creaked, and it was thought for a 

 moment that she was going down. Those on deck were knocked 

 down. The schooner pounded up and down frightfully for a few 

 minutes, just as if she were aground, and then all became still. 

 We had scarcely recovered our senses when a second shock canae, 

 but it was not nearly so severe as the first. When this one w^as 

 over the sea became as still as a mill pond, the wind died out, 

 and everything v^fas as quiet as death. The schooner C. T. Hill, 

 which was carrying lumber, was also tossed about by the tem- 

 blor. She was only a few miles astern of the Volant at the 

 time. Captain Forest's story of the experience is similar to that 

 told by the crew of the Volant. — 8. F. Chronicle. 

 Note. — Inquiries addressed to the captains of the vessels named, 

 through the Merchants' Exchange of San Francisco, elicited no 

 reply.— C. D. P. 

 The following paragraph by Dr. Edward S. Holden, from the Pub- 

 lications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, Vol. VII, 1895, 

 page 131, is of interest: 

 " The S. F. Chronicle of March 8, 1895, gives an account of a severe 

 earthquake shock experienced by two vessels some 50 miles ofE 

 Cape Mendocino, in longitude 125° 20', latitude 40° (both approx- 

 imate). My List of Eecorded Earthquakes in California (1887) 

 contains several notices of shocks felt in this vicinity, as follows: 



" * At sea, 45 miles W. S. W. of Cape Mendocino; 



" ' At sea, 50 miles W. S. W. from Cape Mendocino; 



" ' At sea, longitude 126° 25', latitude 41° 55'; 



