98 



C-ipt. Russell deposited a Wati r Bottle and Beads, 

 wiiti h Mortar, which were made by the led -m wo- 

 man Maria, on lh< Inland of San N colas, during her 

 solitary r< s d uce Were ol e ghteen year.-. 

 On- the Dirkctiox and Velocity of the Evitra- 



iH'iKr; in Oai.ifokma, Ja.nl.iky y. li?5T — BY Da. 



Juii.N li. Tkask. 



The earthquake which occurred in various parts 



of tills Slate, ou the morning of ihe 9 til Janu try 



last, excited at the time o lusiderable attention. — 

 This -nose from two causes First. froDa ihe varied 

 reports thai »pp»artd nu the following uay through 

 the press ol mis city, detailing its occurrence in re- 

 mote mountain towus, and fur wbiu'i il ere »» m> 

 foundation. S coiidly, fn-ra the greatextent nvcr 

 which the comuiotiou was felt, a- was sunstquently 

 proved. 



lminid at.ely follow ni li ■ i ccurrence or the phe- 

 nomeuoa, letteis were ad irer>e i to cnl ihe princ pal 

 lowus between Mariposa and Duwuieville, east of 

 the valleys, lor the purp >se of learning how far the 

 shucks may uave i.-xt. n<i«d eastward ol iliis city,. — 

 '1 be e letters «ere lorwaided hy ihe Pacific Express 

 (Jouipauy to their agents, mid throug'i Iheui an- 

 swers were returue I id i very case but two tniough 

 tie sau. e source. IT rum tlie tacts thus obtained, it 

 was found that in no locality east of the foothills, 

 was any shock Jelt what* Btr on that day or night 



Anoiner report, equa ly unt.uud'l. readied us ou 

 the a r val ol ihe steamer from the Southern cuts . 

 io the effect that several bouses had bee i dm ui-hed 

 iu 8 .u Die^,) from its vi den e. wnile the tacts Hi the 

 ea-e are that the steamer I- ft that port twenty- 

 hours bejorc the shock occurred tin re 



This earthquake, or more properly speaking the 

 series of sb. cks that began ou tlie night of the 8 b m 

 this city, aud which continued in the south part of 

 the State during the following day ami night ot the 

 9th, Was probably the UOSi extensive of any en le 

 cord on ibis port. ou of ihe I'aoilie coast-, eXC pting, 

 perhaps, that o! Hie wave of the Sin ida i ai li quake 

 in December, 1854. I'heliuear distance ov,.i- which 

 we are aide to trace iis course, amounts io six i an 

 dred and two miles, aud us breadth now 



ascertain. d, is two hundred and ninety 111 !> s - It 

 has all the appearance of having been Mie terminal 

 movemeut ul some more violeul commotion a.t a dis- 

 tance from our coast. 



From ibe best evidence obtainable at present, il 

 seems to bave bad it- <•• gin o Ihe West aud trav- 

 elled iu au easteny direu lou. luis is couei istvely 

 proved from the (act that it Was lelt earlier at San 

 Fraucisco tbau at any other locality east ol t:ns city 

 within the State. We have no record as yet of its 

 occurrence along the coist ot Mexico or Oregon. 



1 bave been able io determine with considerable 

 accuracy the period of time at which the shock be 

 tweeu eight aud u ne o ciock ou the morning ol the 

 9th look place, at tour localities iasl ot Hie Cdy ol 

 San Francisco, in this State, as the .-hock at ihat 

 hour sei ins to have Ween nine geuer lily noticed - ban 

 those which either preceded or followed tt beae or 

 elsewhere, though at ib.s C.iy it Was utucb less 

 marked ibau the stocks at lb. i 3m . lb lom.. aud 

 7ti., these three latti r occui rmg at those hours ol the 

 luoruiug when inos- persous are sleeping. The >hock 

 at 7u. produc d a Ciroular inollOU in ihe pend auoi, 

 the d.ameier ol when w u s about live incus lb.- 

 oscillations of the pendulum in all the others were 

 in an easterly aud wtsterly direction. 



The prices period id lime at whicn the shock took 



place at San Francisco, between eight and nine 

 o'clock, is determined by tbe stopping of a time- 

 pii ce belonging to J. W. Tucker, whose rate of error 

 was three seconds fast. I be time at San Diego was 

 furnished n> Mr. Gassidy, of the army, and that of 

 (he Tejon Reserve is by persons at that post. To 

 private gentlemen at Sacramento aud Stockton we 

 tie iudeined for the time at those places. Tne ac- 

 coinpiuyiog table of latitudes aud longitudes, of lo- 

 c ili ties named gives the hour at which thesbock took 

 place at each ; tbe difference or elapsed tim j , from 

 which the velocity was deduced, are the mean times 

 corrected tor ihe p!aces named, the time as given 

 anoVe b ing t >k. n as the siandard at. Sun Francisco. 

 It is proper tiere to slate that three minutes four 

 seconds. »as th^ greatest error iu t me found, and 

 ihe least was twenty two seconds: — 



i,.;t. Lon. Tune ot Elapsed Velocity 

 shuck. time. 



Q ' - h. in. s. m s. miles 



San Francisco ,'37 48122 25 B 13 SO 00 I) 



Sacramento 38 32121 23 8 20 00 7 3i> G 6 



Stockton 37 52 121 34 S 23 On 9 3d 6 5 



IVjon 35 0U'll8 46 8 46 0U 32 3o GO 



.-iiu Diego 32 42117 13 S 50 00 36 30. 7 



The v. looity is giveu in miles per minute, and by 

 dividing the sum of ihe same by their number, it 

 wnl be round that rbe movein. nt of tbe wave at th.a 

 nme «V( rages . fraction over 6.2 m les per minute. 



The results obtained frum ihe above ij aa approxi- 

 mate closely the deductions of Prof, liacae ou the 

 v . i \ . • which reached our shores resuttiug from the 

 earthquake at jtinoda on the 23d December, 1854, 

 aud wntcb wi.l be louud in a paper re. id by that gen- 

 tleman at the meeting of the Auiencau Association 

 fur the Advancement ot Science, during the early 

 part ot last j ear. 



From ihe uo.-s before m, there can be but little 

 doubt of the direction ot the commotion, and that 

 it preceded from tbe west, or a little south of that 

 po ut. The motion of tne earth, us descr tied at tbe 

 different localities .it which it was felt, with the mo- 

 tion of ihe pendulum — which was slightly south of 

 .i m sc hue — lends to tne latter couclusiou Time is 

 au import iut element iu aiding us to form correct 

 conclusions regarding their phenomena, and it is to 

 be hoped thit our friends iu different parts uf the 

 State, m r ••porting the same, will be precise in this 

 particular, ul the lUCUltUts attending the shocks. 

 uiauy aud varied repons have reached us ; and it 

 is to have acted with greater violence iu tbe vi- 

 cinity ol the Tejon Reserve and upper Tulare county 

 than at any other places. It is most remarkable 

 ihat so sm ul an amount ol intensity was manifested 

 when the area over which it extended is taken into 

 consideration 



The effects were felt in San Francisco several 

 hunts betnit they are reported to have been observed 

 it any oilier place nortu or south. They began here 

 at twenty minutes past eleven, ou 'he night ol the 

 Sth, and coiiHuud till thirteen miu i s past eight 

 tbe following morning— six shocks oco i iiug in tbe 

 inter i tn ; while to t:.e sou lb, the li st shooH ib.it was 

 noticed at the lejon was at li hours 30 minutes, on 

 .'it 'j h In Los Augelea they contiuued at long in- 

 tervals ilu day until 23 hours 130 minutes uf 

 the same date. I have learned from p rsons who 

 in in L'is Angeles at this time, and also 

 it the shock ul the 14tb July, 1855. that the severity 

 of tbe latter exceeded that ol tbe 9th January last 



P is . 



