346 L. MARTIN ALASKAN EARTHQUAKES OF 1899 



American/ and Current Literature.^ The Governor of Alaska, the Com- 

 missioner of Education, the commanders of vessels, United States Army 

 officers, Coast Survey engineers, Weather Bureau observers, postmasters, 

 many Canadian officials, as well as numerous prospectors, missionaries, 

 and others, made notes concerning these earthquakes and referred to them 

 briefly in their reports. 



STUDY BY SEISMOLOGISTS 



The delicate tremors which traversed the rocks of the earth's crust were 

 recorded by seismographs in practically every observatory in the world 

 where such instruments were then installed. Many magnetographs also 

 recorded them. Several seismologists have given special attention to the 

 records made by this group of earthquakes and specific mention will be 

 made later of the studies by Prof. John Milne, Dr. F. Omori, Dr. E. D. 

 Oldham, several Italian seismologists, and others who knew of the loca- 

 tion, time of origin, etcetera, of these earthquakes long before the fault- 

 ing, the 47-foot uplift, and the glacial oscillations which accompanied 

 or resulted from these shocks were known. 



PLAN OF PRESENTATION 



The observations in Alaska will be described first of all, the shocks of 

 September 3, those of September 10, and those of September 11 to 29 

 being presented in order. The seismograph records will then be . de- 

 scribed, the time records discussed, the disturbed area shown, and the 

 earthquake series will be briefly compared with other great seismic dis- 

 turbances in Alaska, North America, and the world in general. In con- 

 clusion, the relationships of these earthquakes to life will be brought out. 



Observations in Alaska 



earthquake op september s, 1899 



List of localities. — The first shock in this series (unless possibly the 

 avalanches heard near the headwaters of the White and Tanana rivers 

 at 8 p. m. on August 27, 1899, were due to an earlier shock on the north 

 side of the mountains^*^) occurred on September 3, at 3h. 3m. 28s., mean 

 localtime at Yakutat (or September 4, at Oh. 21m. 40s., Greenwich 

 mean time). The fact that September 3 was the first Sunday in Sep- 



8 Vol. Ixxxi, December 23, 1899, pp. 405-406. 



9 Vol. xxvll, February, 1900, p. 128. 



10 Journal of A. H. Brooks for 1899 ; Seattle Post-Intelllgencer, September 23, 1899 ; 

 Victoria Semi-Weekly Colonist, September 25, 1899 ; Seattle V^^eekly Times, October 4, 

 1899. 



