APPENDIX I. 



CATALOGUE OF DESTRUCTIVE EARTHQUAKES. 

 Bij J. Milne, D.Sc, F.R.S. 



INTRODUCTION. 



The following small Catalogue, which has taken several 

 years to compile, is issued under the auspices of the Seis- 

 mological Committee of the British Association. It represents 

 excerpts from manuscripts and publications received from most 

 countries in the world. 



In 1888, at the end of a Report to the British Association, 

 Robert Mallet says : : ' We have thus extracted all the in- 

 formation that our catalogue, or indeed any further cataloguing 

 of earthquakes seems capable of giving us." Farther on he 

 remarks, " In conclusion, I would repeat my conviction that a 

 further expenditure of labour in earthquake catalogues of the 

 character hitherto compiled, and alone possible from the data to 

 have been compiled, is now a waste of scientific time and 

 labour." To appreciate the opinion which is here so strongly 

 expressed it is necessary to examine the catalogues to which 

 reference is made. Although in several respects they exhibit 

 differences, they have also strong resemblances. From the 

 earliest historical times to the 17th century, the entries are 

 comparatively few in number as compared with entries made 

 subsequently. As Mallet puts it, the expanding character of 

 catalogues has followed the progress of human knowledge, 

 discovery, and diffusion of mankind. The records before the 

 Christian era, and prior to the year 1700, are practically confined 

 to occurrences in Southern Europe, China and Japan. It may, 

 however, be noted that when Mallet wrote, records relating to 

 the two last-mentioned countries (to which we may add India) 

 were but few in number. In early times the entries for all 

 countries refer for the most part to widespread disasters. 

 References to small disturbances wore never chronicled, or if 

 they were, they have been lost. Only that which was large 

 survived. As the material civilisation of Europe spread, new 

 countries were settled, printing became common, and records of 

 natural phenomena became more numerous. They however 

 changed in character. Small events found a place in history, 

 with the result that in the compilations referring to the last 

 300 years, wo find metfaseisms and microseisms side by side. 

 The characteristics of catalogues to which Mr. Mallet refers are 

 therefore as follow ; First, the entries for early times, although 



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