﻿30 
  OLDHAM: 
  GRKAT 
  EARTHQUAKE 
  OF 
  1897. 
  

  

  when 
  the 
  place 
  was 
  cleared 
  out 
  a 
  little 
  and 
  we 
  were 
  able 
  to 
  sit 
  down 
  and 
  talk 
  over 
  

   things, 
  I 
  took 
  out 
  my 
  watch, 
  went 
  over 
  my 
  observations 
  and 
  thoughts 
  leisurely, 
  

   allowing 
  sufficient 
  time 
  for 
  everything, 
  and 
  had 
  finished 
  the 
  recital 
  in 
  2 
  i 
  minutes. 
  

   1 
  do 
  not 
  believe 
  that 
  from 
  beginning 
  to 
  end 
  the 
  earthquake 
  could 
  have 
  exceeded 
  

   three 
  minutes 
  by 
  any 
  possibility. 
  

  

  " 
  I 
  have 
  only 
  to 
  add 
  that 
  during 
  the 
  great 
  earthquake 
  I 
  had 
  only 
  the 
  sensation 
  

   of 
  undulating, 
  not 
  of 
  shock." 
  

  

  No 
  noise 
  was 
  heard 
  by 
  Dr. 
  Williams 
  himself, 
  but 
  others 
  in 
  Silchar 
  

   noticed 
  a 
  sound, 
  like 
  that 
  of 
  a 
  traction 
  engine, 
  just 
  before 
  the 
  shock* 
  

   and 
  one 
  person, 
  who 
  was 
  seated 
  in 
  a 
  chair 
  at 
  the 
  time, 
  noticed 
  the 
  

   birds 
  rising 
  suddenly 
  from 
  the 
  trees 
  before 
  he 
  himself 
  felt 
  anything. 
  

   This 
  was 
  probably 
  due 
  to 
  their 
  greater 
  sensibility 
  to 
  the 
  small 
  preli- 
  

   minary 
  tremors 
  not 
  felt 
  by 
  human 
  beings. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  accounts 
  from 
  Chittagong, 
  besides 
  clear 
  evidence 
  of 
  an 
  

   undulatory 
  movement 
  of 
  the 
  ground, 
  we 
  find 
  a 
  feature 
  repeated 
  in 
  

   the 
  accounts 
  from 
  many 
  other 
  places. 
  The 
  shock 
  was 
  divided 
  into 
  two 
  

   distinct 
  phases, 
  and 
  the 
  direction 
  of 
  the 
  movement 
  was 
  different 
  in 
  

   the 
  two. 
  Mr. 
  J. 
  W. 
  Thurlow, 
  Sub-Assistant 
  Superintendent 
  of 
  Tele- 
  

   graphs, 
  writes 
  :— 
  - 
  

  

  " 
  When 
  the 
  first 
  shock 
  was 
  felt 
  1 
  was 
  seated 
  facing 
  east, 
  and 
  suspected 
  the 
  

   shock 
  came 
  from 
  my 
  left. 
  On 
  hurrying 
  out 
  I 
  faced 
  the 
  north 
  and 
  felt 
  a 
  

   tendency 
  to 
  fall 
  forward. 
  The 
  motion 
  was 
  slight 
  but 
  very 
  regular 
  from 
  

   north 
  to 
  south 
  for 
  one-and-a-half 
  minutes, 
  when 
  suddenly 
  a 
  peculiar 
  quiver 
  

   was 
  felt 
  which 
  made 
  me 
  think 
  the 
  direction 
  had 
  changed. 
  Acting 
  on 
  this 
  sup- 
  

   position 
  I 
  faced 
  the 
  west, 
  when 
  I 
  found 
  I 
  could 
  scarcely 
  keep 
  my 
  equilibrium, 
  

   having 
  a 
  tendency 
  to 
  fall 
  forward. 
  The 
  shocks 
  now 
  came 
  from 
  west 
  to 
  east, 
  and 
  

   were 
  far 
  greater 
  in 
  intensity 
  than 
  those 
  from 
  north 
  to 
  south. 
  They 
  were 
  regular, 
  

   but 
  few 
  were 
  more 
  severe 
  again. 
  The 
  severity 
  of 
  the 
  shocks 
  did 
  not 
  end 
  gradually 
  

   but 
  abruptly. 
  " 
  

  

  In 
  Calcutta, 
  much 
  the 
  same 
  was 
  noticed 
  in 
  several 
  accounts, 
  from 
  

   among 
  which 
  I 
  may 
  select 
  the 
  following, 
  communicated 
  to 
  the 
  daily- 
  

   papers 
  by 
  the 
  Revd. 
  Father 
  Lafont, 
  S.J. 
  : 
  — 
  

  

  " 
  The 
  first 
  intimation 
  that 
  I 
  got 
  of 
  the 
  earthquake 
  was 
  a 
  kind 
  of 
  twisting 
  sen- 
  

   sation 
  and 
  a 
  rumbling 
  noise. 
  A 
  few 
  seconds 
  soon 
  convinced 
  me 
  that 
  it 
  was 
  an 
  

  

  ( 
  3" 
  ) 
  

  

  