196 



PHYSIOGRAPHY 



Earthquakes have been most destructive in southern Italy. 

 Some 20,000 lives were lost in 1688, 43,000 more in 1693, and 32,000 

 more in 1783, in all nearly 100,000 in a single century. 



On April 18, 1906, there was a destructive earthquake on the 

 coast of California, in and about San Francisco. Many buildings 



Fig. 194. Sketch map of the coast of California, showing the course of the 

 great fault along which movement took place during the earthquake of 

 1906. 



were injured by the earthquake, and some practically destroyed, 

 and a large part of the city was burned by the fire which followed. 

 The quaking had injured the water-works of the city, so that water 

 was not available for fighting the flames. This earthquake, the 

 most disastrous in North America in historic times, was caused by 

 a horizontal fault of eight to twenty or more feet. The line of the 

 fault was traced several hundred miles on land (Fig. 194). 



