CHAP. 4.] 29 



Chapter IV. — Eaethqtjakes. 



KuTCH has long been known as an earthquake region, the earliest 



recorded event of the kind being the disastrous 

 Earliest records. 



and continued succession of shocks which com- 

 menced on the 16th of June 1819, and laid all its larger towns in ruins. 

 An early account of the results was given by Captain MacMurdo, who 

 was then engaged in a political mission to the provinces. From this, from 

 Sir Alexander Burnes^ Travels, from Sir Charles LyelFs description, and 

 from that given by Lieutenant S. N. Raikes in ' Kutch Selections,'* we 

 find that the first shock took place at nearly a quarter to 7 p. Ji., and lasted 

 Effects of the earth- about 3 minutes,—' to keep the feet was not easy, 

 "^"^ "^^ and the motion of the surface was quite visible.-" 



"Before 11 p. m. three more trifling shocks occurred, and on next 

 day the earth was frequently in motion, attended by gusts of wind and 

 a noise like that of wheeled carriages."''' 



For some time before 10 A. M. these symptoms intermitted for 

 a few minutes, but at a quarter to ten o^'clock a severe shock which 

 lasted about fifty seconds, brought down a number of shattered buiklino-s 

 For Eome forty days, until the beginning of August, no day passed with- 

 out shocks, generally slight and gradually dying out until the 20th of 

 November, when the last distinct one was felt. 



Sir C. Lyell states that the shocks only occurred till the 20th of 



Discrepancy between ^^^^^^^ ^^'^ *^''^* *^^ movement was felt ovcr an 

 the accounts. area having a radius of 1,000 miles from Bhooj, 



and extending to Khatmandoo, Calcutta and Pondicherry ; also that 

 the vibrations were felt in North-west India at a distance of 800 

 miles, after an interval of about 15 minutes after the earthquake at 

 Bhooj. At Ahmadabad (about 200 miles east of Bhooj), the oreat 



For references, see appendix. 



( 29 ) 



