EARTHQUAKES. 



297 



great fire. Immediately the buildings were shaken 

 with amazing violence. Doors opened and shut of 

 themselves with a fearful clattering. The bells ran*' 

 without their ropes being touched. Cracks appeared 

 in the walls of buildings, and floors separated, and in 

 some cases fell down. Chasms appeared in the fields, 

 and the hills seemed to be in motion. The fright of 

 the inhabitants was shared by the beasts and birds, 

 who sent forth fearful cries, howlings, and bellowings. 

 The duration of this earthquake was very uncommon. 

 The first shock continued half an hour before it was 

 over, but it began to abate about a quarter of an hour 

 utter it began. The same day, about eight o'clock in 

 the evening, there came a second shock, equally vio- 

 lent as the first, and in the space of half an hour there 

 were two others. The next day, about three hours from 

 the morning, there was a violent shock, which lasted 

 a long time^ and the next night some counted thirty- 

 two shocks, of which many were violent. Nor did the 

 trembling of the earth cease until the July following. 

 Many trees were torn up, and the outlines of the mount- 

 ains appeared to be much changed. Many springs and 

 small streams were dried up ; in others the waters be- 

 came sulphurous, and the channels in which some had 

 run were so altered as to be unrecognizable. Half- 

 way between Tadousac and Quebec two hills were 

 thrown down, and formed a point of land, which ex- 

 tended half a quarter of a league into the St. Lawrence 

 river. The island Aux Coudres became larger than 

 it was before, and the channel of the St. Lawrence was 

 greatly changed. 



This earthquake extended to New York and Penn- 

 sylvania. There were slight earthquake-shocks in 

 1665, 1668, 1669, 1670, 1705, and 1720. 



Sixty-four years after the earthquake that so fright- 

 ened our ancestors and their Canadian neighbors, 

 came another memorable shock. On Oct. 29, 1727, O. 

 S., about 10.40 p. M., the air being clear and. the sky 

 serene, a heavy, rumbling noise" was heard in the 

 north or northwest. At first it seemed to be at a dis- 

 tance ; but it increased until it was thought to be the 

 roar of a blazing chimney near at handj and at last 

 was likened to the rattling of carriages driven fiercely 

 over pavements. In about half a minute from the 

 time the noise was first heard the earthquake was felt. 

 It was observed by those who were abroad that as the 

 shake passed under them the surface of the earth per- 

 ceptibly rose and then sank ; but, as it was late on 

 Sunday night, there were probably not many travelers 

 out-of-doors. The violence of the shock was such as 

 to cause the houses to tremble and rock, as if about 

 to fall to pieces. Doors, windows, and movable fur- 

 niture made a fearful clatter. Loose articles, china, 

 and pewter were pitched from the shelves; stone 

 walls and the tops of chimneys were thrown down. 

 There were various opinions as to the duration of this 

 earthquake. The most probable is that the shake be- 

 gan about half a minute after the roar was first heard, 

 and rose to the greatest violence in about a minute 

 more. Its course, like that of the previous ones, seems 

 to have been from northwest to southeast. It extended 

 from the river Delaware, in Pennsylvania, to the Ken- 

 nebec, in Maine, being perceptibly felt in both places, 

 though the shock there was slight* It was also felt by 

 vessels at sea. The place of greatest violence seems to 

 have been at the town of Newbury, on Merrimac 

 river. There the earth opened and cast up a quantity 

 of sand and ashes mixed with sulphur. _ A correspond- 

 ent of the Royal Society, in a communication relative 

 to this earthquake, says, " A clergyman in a town 

 about twenty miles from Boston assured me that im- 

 mediately after the earthquake there was such a stink 

 that the family could scarce bear to be in the house for 

 a considerable" time that night," 



Concerning the earth that was thrown up. another 

 clergyman, Rev. Mr. Lowell, writes: "About the 

 middle of April (\ 728) the fine sand that was thrown 

 up in several places in this parish at the first great 

 shock, October 29, had a very offensive stench nay, 

 was more nauseous than a putrefying corpse ; yet, in 



a very little while after, it had no smell at all. How 

 long it was before it began to have this stench I am 

 not certain, but I believe it was covered with snow 

 until a little while before." 



Rev. Mr. Allin, then minister of Brookline, Mass., 

 took notice of an uncommon change in the water of 

 some wells. u About three days before the earth- 

 quake," he says, "there was perceived an ill-stinking 

 smell in the water of several wells. Some searched 

 their wells, but found nothing that might thus affect 

 them. The scent was so strong and offensive that 

 for eight or ten days they entirely omitted using it. 

 In the deepest of these wells, which was about thirty- 

 six feet, the water was turned to a brimstone-color, 

 but had nothing of the smell, and was thick like pud- 

 dle-water." Some wells also dried up just before the 

 earthquake, but filled after the shock had passed. 

 Several shocks were felt in the northern part of New 

 England for some months after October 29, but they 

 were generally inconsiderable. 



On Sept. 5, 1732, at about 11 A. M., there was an 

 earthquake-shock which, though comparatively slight, 

 was of considerable extent. It was strongest in Cana- 

 da, but was felt in the New England colonies, and 

 from Maryland to Maine. 



On Feb. 6, 1737, at 4.30 in the afternoon, and on 

 December 7 of the same year, a little before 11 o'clock 

 at night, slight shocks were felt, but did no damage. 



June 3, 1744, was a fair and hot day. At a few 

 minutes after 10 A. M., a very loud noise was heard, 

 followed by a trembling of the earth, which shook 

 down bricks from the tops of chimneys, and ruined 

 many stone walls. 



The most violent shock of earthquake that was 

 ever known in New England was in the year 1755. 

 It came November 18, at eleven minutes and thirty- 

 five seconds after four o'clock in the morning of a calm, 

 clear night. The beginning of this earthquake was 

 determined with all the exactness that could be re- 

 quired, by a curious accident. Prof. Winthrop, of 

 Cambridge, having, some time before, used an unusu- 

 ally long glass tube in a particular experiment, shut 

 it up in the case of his tall clock for greater security 

 against breakage. This tube, standing nearly per- 

 pendicular, was upset by the first motion of the 

 shock, and, falling against the pendulum, instantly 

 stopped the clock at the time mentioned. The clock 

 had been adjusted by a meridian line the preceding 

 noon. Prof. Winthrop was awakened by the earth- 

 quake, but his bed was tossing so alarmingly, and the 

 ing so violently, that he did not 



oor of his room shak 



ntil the shock 

 he looked at 



his watch, which had agreed with the clock when he 

 had retired, and found it to be fifteen minutes after four. 

 The jarring was perceptible for about a minute after 

 this, so that the total duration of the earthquake was 

 nearly four and a half minutes. The shock was pre- 

 ceded by that peculiar rumbling noise or roar which 

 frequently is the precursor of an earthquake. In 

 about half a minute afterward the surface of the earth 

 seemed to be suddenly raised, and, in subsiding, was 

 thrown into a rapid, jarring, vibratory motion, which 

 acted in a horizontal direction. This motion contin- 

 ued for about a quarter of a minute, and then abated 

 for three or four seconds. Then all at once came a 

 " violent, prodigious shock, as suddenly, to all ap- 

 pearance, as a thunder-clap breaking upon a house, 

 and attended by a great noise." This severe and 

 sudden shock was immediately succeeded by quick 

 and violent concussions, jerks, and wrenches, attended 

 by an undulatory, waving motion of the whole surface 

 of the ground, not unlike the shaking and quaking of 

 a large bog. For nearly half a minute it gradually 

 declined, and then there was a perceptible revival of 



deem it prudent to walk to the fireplace until 

 was abating. Having then struck a light, h 



, 



it, though of short continuance, and so, by degrees, 

 all became quiet again. 



The effect of these throes of Mother Earth upon the 

 people of Boston is vividly toid by several Avriters. 

 Upon the first shock many persons jumped out of 



