1843.] Memoir on Indian Earthquakes, 1033* 



Indications of active volcanic action are very numerous throughout 

 the Delta of the Indus, and indeed along the entire range of the coast 

 of the Arabian Gulf. Hot springs are numerous among the moun- 

 tains which fringe the Delta, and to the eastward volcanic phenomena 

 are remarkably developed. I am indebted to an interesting paper on 

 the country between Kurachee and Hinglaj, by Captain Hart, 2nd 

 Bombay Grenadiers, for the following account of a singular series of 

 mud volcanoes in a low range of hills to the eastward of the greater 

 Hara mountains : " Six miles beyond the Phor river," Captain Hart 

 remarks, " we came to the Tilookpoore wells, at present covered with 

 an extensive marsh of fresh water formed by the late rain. One coss 

 from them, in a westerly direction, three hills of extremely light colour- 

 ed earth rise abruptly from the plain. That in the centre is about 

 four hundred feet in length, of a conical form, with the apex flattened 

 and discoloured : its southern and western farces rather precipitous, and 

 with a more gradual slope on the others. It is connected with a 



was not followed by an Earthquake ! I have observed that the tremors and shocks 

 have invariably been most constant and strong at 10 a. m. at noon, and at midnight. 

 There has been no occurrence worthy of observation since the '25th, and as this is now 

 the 30th, my conjecture of the former date has been so far correct, that the principal 

 effects of the Earthquake did subside with the springs. The sensations felt since the 

 '25th have been so slight, that were it not for their being somewhat generally acknow- 

 ledged, they might be taken for the effects of the imagination." 



The personal sensations alluded to above as felt before and during the Earthquake 

 shocks, are identical in character with those invariably experienced by the writer be- 

 fore and during a thunder-storm. The same lassitude, feeling of sickness, and oppres- 

 sion are felt by me when the air is unusually charged with electric matter. I note the 

 circumstance, because it is one of several, which indicate a connection between Earth- 

 quakes and the electric condition of the atmosphere. 



The following observations would lead to a material extension of the extreme limits 

 of the shock of June, 1819, since they prove that its influence extended even beyond 

 the Ganges, affecting the whole of the country between that River and the Indus : — 

 Extract from the Asiatic Journal, Vol. IX. p. 184, 



Muttra.— June 19th 1819. We had a smart shock of Earthquake here on the even- 

 ing of the 16th, between 7 and 8 o'clock, which lasted I should imagine about 30 or 

 40 seconds. 



Ckunar and Mirzapore. — About 8 o'clock in the evening of the 16th June, the 

 shock of an Earthquake was experienced at these places. At Chunar the motion 

 was accompanied by a noise in the atmosphere, which resembled that occasioned by 

 the rapid flight of birds. 



Mynpooree. — June '20. On the evening of the 16th, we had a slight shock of an 

 Earthquake: the undulating motion continued little more than a minute, and seemed 

 to come from the West. It was felt very nearly at the same time at Futteyghur, 

 and at one of my police chokees across the Jumna. 



Jounpoor. — A strong shock of an Earthquake was felt here on the night of the 

 16th of June, at a quarter past eight o'clock: there were three distinct vibrations 

 from West to East, with the usual accompaniments of rattling wall-shades, swinging 

 punkahs, which appeared to me about '25 seconds : the intervals were very distinct. 

 It was not accompanied by the rumbling noise I have usually heard on such occasions, 

 and which I have hitherto imagined to be the earth's vibration. Both the noise and 

 motion must be separate effects of some unknown cause. The rains have not yet 

 commenced and the weather has been unusually hot. 



Sultanpore, Oude. — June 17. A severe and awful shock of an Earthquake was felt 

 at this station last night at 17 minutes past eight, which lasted some time, and occa- 

 sioned very considerable alarm. The bungalows actually rocked, particularly the 

 Mess one of the 1st Bat. 19th Regt., in which the officers were at dinner at the time, 

 and the huts of the soldiers were a good deal damaged. The heat for the last two or 

 three days has been excessive, and not a drop of rain has yet fallen. 



