59^ 



XA TURE 



[April 23, 1908 



A' ICC EST EA K T HO LAKES. ' 



L'NI'IL recent yeai's the attitude of the oi-dinary English- 

 iiian with regard to earthquakes has been one of 

 apathy. He argued that, although every year 30,000 

 tarthtiuakes might occur in the world, his country only 

 contributed about half a dozen, and these, because they 

 were so small, did more to excite curiosity than to create 

 alarm. Although in 1883 Colchester, and in 1896 Here- 

 ford, lost a few chimney pots, and buildings were un- 

 roofed, also at intervals, reckoned by one or two hundred 

 years, London has been shaken, still England could not be 

 regarded as an earthquake-producing country. British- 

 made earthquakes may be of rare occurrence, but should 

 there be any relief of seismic strain similar to that of 1883 

 or 1896 in the synclinal on which our great metropolis 

 stands, we might find as many chimney pots in the streets 

 as there are inhabitants. A suggestion of this kind, how- 

 ever, does not disturb the mind of our ordinary English- 



but also in Eurupr .ind .\sia, have by recent earthquakes 

 beeji reduced to hrajjs of debris. When these are re- 

 constructed, it is extremely likely ihat the well-tested rules 

 and methods, the outcome of applied seismology, will not 

 be neglected. 



Seismological investigations have been made, not only 

 for scientific reasons, but to minimise the loss of life and 

 property. In connection with the destruction of San 

 Francisco alone, we are told that British insurance com- 

 panies are called upon to meet claims amounting to 

 12,000,000/., while losses of like character may have to be 

 met in other parts of the world. The Englishman living 

 on his own little patch of terra firma is continually paying 

 for earthquake effects all over the world. The thinking 

 man now realises that insurance rates in many countries 

 must vary with the seismicity of a district, together with 

 the character of the structures to which they refer. Sub- 

 oceanic seismic activity frequently results in the failure of 

 cables. It is therefore of extreme importance that the 



th the Briti-sh .Association working with similar instruments (Mihie pendulum). Numbn- of wor'.i] sh.iking 

 since 1099 which have originated in districts marked A, B, C, &c., are indicate J. 



man. Hints respecting the possible instability of his 

 country produce no effect, and he fails to see why he or 

 his Government should be called upon to support seismo- 

 logical investigations. Recent earthquakes have, however, 

 modified his opinion, and although England may be free 

 from earthquakes, he finds he has to insure against and 

 pay for the effects which these disturbances have caused in 

 distant places. By observations on what has stood and 

 what has been destroyed after violent shakings of the 

 ground, and as the result of investigations together with 

 elaborate and costly experiments carried out entirely in 

 Japan, not only have new methods of construction been 

 formulated, but these have had extensive applications. 

 Experience has shown that the new types of buildings 

 stand wliilst the old ones are shattered. At the present 

 moment, Valparaiso, San Francisco, Kingston, and very 

 many other cities, towns, and villages, not only in America, 



' Discourse delivered .at the Royal Institution on Friday, March =0. by 

 Prof. J. Milne, F.R.S. 



NO. 



2008, VOL. 77] 



sites of these submarine disturbances should be locat'H 

 (see map). In these and in many other ways it is ca^\ 

 to show that England has probably a greater practiijl 

 interest in the results of seismological investigation tli.in 

 any other country. Finance and earthquake effects are 

 close relations. Another incentive to the removal of apatliv 

 in regard to seismology lies in the fact that the mind ol 

 the public, like that of the individual, becomes fatigu'l 

 by repetition. What is asked for is something new, ami, 

 if possible, it should be sensational. Newspapers ami 

 magazines do all they can to relieve this craving, wiih 

 the result that the public is liberally supplied with stmi'^ 

 about big catastrophes and deductions based thereon. A 

 new hors d'oeiivre has been added to the daily sciemilic 

 menu, and the halfpenny paper and the sixpenny magaziiifs 

 have given a stimulus to investigations bearing upon earth 

 physics. 



In countries wlure earthquakes have been severe, and 

 where by their frequency they are continually forcing them- 



