EARTHQUAKES. 



283 



about one-fourth the distance up the mountain. 

 Ju a short time there were six openings in full 

 operation, sending forth enormous jets of flame, 

 accompanied with terrific explosions. This was 

 in an inhabited district, and some of the houses 

 were thrown into the air by the eruptions. The 

 lava commenced to flow on Sunday morning, 

 and destroyed several houses and villas at Torre 

 del Greco ; but more buildings were destroyed 

 at this place by the tremblings of the earth, 

 which caused the walls and roofs to be fissured 

 or thrown down. According to the official re- 

 port the number thus injured was from 400 to 

 500, but from private accounts it would appear 

 that none seemed to be in a secure state. The 

 inhabitants reported that about 22,000 in num- 

 ber tied at the first alarm towards Naples, and 

 the city was left to the depredations of thieves. 

 At about two o'clock on Monday morning, the 

 grand crater at the summit of the mountain, 

 which had been for a long period comparatively 

 lormant, burst out with a tremendous noise, 

 id the escape of its pent-up fires gave hopes 

 the despairing population that their dwell- 

 igs might yet be saved. The opening of this 

 lew outlet, no doubt, checked the flow of lava 

 >m the lower craters; and the total destruc- 

 ion of Torre del Greco, which had already 

 sen laid waste nine times within the historic 

 period, was averted by the diversion of the 

 iva streams, caused by elevations above the 

 )\vn that lay in their course. Within a quar- 

 er of a mile of the town the lava stream was 

 een on Monday, slowly moving down about 

 ilf a mile below the craters that fed it, cover- 

 ag about half a mile in width and reaching to 

 the height of about 24 feet. * It is remarkable 

 that in these terrible scenes, the loss of human 

 fe should have been so small, only two deaths 

 3eing recorded one that of a guide who was 

 tilled by the falling of a stone upon his head as 

 ie was attempting to procure a piece of the semi- 

 fluid lava, in which to imbed a coin; and the 

 other, of a person who fell into the molten 

 stream. The scene is described by those who 

 witnessed it as one of unparalleled magnificence, 

 both by day and night. The volume of smoke 

 that poured forth from the craters was remark- 

 ably dense and black, and charged with enor- 

 mous quantities of fine dust and sand, which 

 were carried up in the heated column to great 

 heights, and hung suspended over the bay in 

 the calm atmosphere, or were swept onward by 

 the winds, overshadowing the sea and hiding 

 the islands and headlands from view. In the 

 lorning and evening the rising and setting 

 in illuminated these dense clouds, tinting 

 them with a profusion of rich colors, and giv- 

 ing to their irregular forms the appearance of 

 solidity, with hues of fiery brilliancy. From 

 the craters the clouds were renewed with 

 wonderful rapidity, rolling over each other in 

 magnificent involutions ; while each eruption 

 was preceded by a sound as of the heaviest 

 artillery, followed by a shaking of the mountain 

 itself, which was felt at Naples and by vessels 



at sea, many miles from the shore. Every- 

 where in the vicinity the fine black dust settled 

 down upon the surface, and at Torre del Greco 

 attained the depth of 4-J inches. At night, un- 

 der the pall of the dark cloud the volcanic fires 

 appeared like brilliant fireworks upon the 

 grandest scale. Then the immense quantities 

 of stones thrown high up into the air were seen 

 to be of an intense red heat and rose like Ro- 

 man candles. Bright flames were seen shoot- 

 ing upward through the dense smoke, and ap- 

 pearances resembling forked lightning darting 

 around with globes of electric light. On Tues- 

 day, the 10th, the violence of the eruption had 

 greatly subsided, and it was an occasion of re- 

 gret to the people that the volcano did not 

 continue in more vigorous action ; as this 

 would have insured a cessation of the earth- 

 quake shocks which still continued at intervals, 

 doing increased injury to Torre del Greco and 

 the other towns. These continued even into 

 the first week of the new year ; and the vicin- 

 ity of the volcano was rendered almost insuffer- 

 able from the shocks, and from the exhala- 

 tions of gas, especially about Torre and Resi- 

 na. This gas, upon the land, was said to be 

 carbonic acid, intermixed with a small quan- 

 tity of carburetted hydrogen ; and at sea chiefly 

 the latter intermixed with a small portion of 

 the former. About the close of the year the 

 people who had returned to their honses, were 

 again driven forth by the shock of an earth- 

 quake, and a new volcanic opening was pro- 

 duced under the sea, causing the water to be 

 thrown into violent commotion, like boiling, 

 for a considerable distance. 



Earthquake on the Island of Penang. Feb. 

 16, 1861, a severe earthquake occurred at half- 

 past 7 P. M., in three distinct shocks, each of 

 which seemed to pass from north to south and 

 to continue about thirty seconds. The ground 

 undulated, causing persons to be affected with 

 nausea, crockery to be thrown from shelves, 

 &c. The shock was also felt at the same time 

 at Malacca and Singapore, where no earthquake 

 had been known for the seventeen preceding 

 years. The sky was clear at the time, no air 

 stirring ; thermometer at 91 F. 



Earthquakes in the United States. During 

 the year a number of earthquakes occurred in 

 the United States, but none of serious charac- 

 ter. At Syracuse, N. Y., at about 9 p. M. of 

 July 11, a very sensible shock was felt, which 

 extended over most of the county. It lasted 

 about four seconds, and was so severe as to 

 cause dwelling-houses to rock, and in some 

 cases furniture was removed and persons tipped 

 in chairs to and fro. The shock was preceded 

 by a sudden change in the weather, which be- 

 came cold and chilly, after having been in- 

 tensely hot for several days previous. 



On the 31st August at 5 h. 22 m. A. M., two 

 marked shocks of an earthquake were felt at 

 the Washington Observatory, each being a suc- 

 cession of long waves of slight elevation appar- 

 ently proceeding from south to north. The in- 



