EARTHQVAKE WAVES. 8:^ 



Britain ; on the coasts of Sweden and the shores of 

 the Baltic ; in Germany, Switzerland, Italy ; and m 

 the North of Africa. It was accompanied by a huge 

 wave of translation, that swept the coasts of Spain, 

 and attained, at Cadiz, a height of 60 feet. It inun- 

 dated the ports of Madeira. A vast bulk of water 

 rushed violently into the marketplace of a city in 

 Ireland (Kinsale). The sea rose and fell at Tangier ; 

 and, though the soil was not deranged, an extraor- 

 dinary movement was perceptible in England, both 

 in the waters of the interior and on the seacoasts. 



On the 23rd of December, 1854, at a quarter be- 

 fore 10 in the morning, the Russian frigate Diana 

 felt several shocks at the entrance of the Bay of 

 Simoda, in Japan. At 10 o'clock a huge wave over- 

 whelmed the city. A second wave immediately fol- 

 lowed the first, and when it retired every house was 

 found to be thrown down. The frigate, after striking 

 several times, foundered on the shore. Some hours 

 later, at a distance of nearly 5,000 miles, waves of 

 an unusual height broke upon the shores of Cali- 

 fornia. During the intermediate time the same 

 phenomenon had been observed in the islands of the 

 Pacific : thus, in a few hours, the waves had traversed 

 the Great Ocean. By comparing the various obser- 

 vations, it was ascertained that the breadth of each 

 wave was about 250 miles, and its velocity about 440 



