136 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 



that there was not the slightest crack in the walls or plaster- 

 ing. His room was in the fourth story of a brick hotel. It 

 seems that the whole building had moved together. 



The fear of earthquakes prevents the erection of high struc- 

 tures for show ; and, for this reason, there are few tall steeples 

 in San Francisco. Several churches have been commenced on 

 such a plan that they might be crowned with lofty spires, but 

 it was thought more prudent to leave them with low towers. 

 The same motive induces many wealthy families to reside in 

 wooden houses, which are considered better fitted to resist the 

 shocks of earthquakes. These wooden houses, it must be kept 

 in mind, are not " framed " with mortices and tenons, as large 

 wooden houses are usually erected in the Atlantic States, but 

 are " Chicago frames," held together with nails. This style of 

 building, though introduced solely because of its cheapness 

 and simplicity, is considered, by far, the most secure against 

 earthquakes. 



Few earthquakes felt at San Francisco since 1846 have been 

 more severe than one which visited Buffalo, New York, in 

 1857, as described in the American Journal of Science and Art 

 for September, 1858. 



100. List of Earthquakes. -The following is a list of the 

 most notable earthquakes observed in California. 



On the llth October, 1800, six severe shocks were felt at 

 San Juan Bautista, and every house was shattered and ren- 

 dered uninhabitable. The same earthquake was felt with 

 much severity at San Jose. 



On the 21st of June, 1808, twenty-one shocks were felt at 

 San Francisco, and the few houses then existing were seriously 

 injured. 



In September, 1812, on a Sunday, an earthquake threw down 

 the Mission Church at San Juan Capistrano, in latitude 33 20', 

 and thirty persons were killed. The church at Santa Inez, in 

 Santa Barbara County, was thrown down on the same day ; 

 but the shock, according to report, was an hour later than at 



