﻿52 
  OLDHAM: 
  GREAT 
  EARTHQUAKE 
  OF 
  1897. 
  

  

  "Western 
  Karenni, 
  and 
  seems 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  felt 
  in 
  parts 
  of 
  Myelat, 
  

   though 
  there 
  is 
  an 
  uncertainty 
  about 
  the 
  date, 
  but 
  was 
  not 
  felt 
  

   elsewhere 
  in 
  the 
  Southern 
  Shan 
  Hills. 
  

  

  These 
  records 
  give 
  an 
  approximation 
  to 
  the 
  eastern 
  limit 
  of 
  the 
  

   area 
  over 
  which 
  the 
  shock 
  was 
  "felt, 
  but 
  east 
  of 
  Bhamo 
  we 
  have 
  no 
  

   records. 
  An 
  enquiry 
  instituted 
  through 
  Her 
  Britannic 
  Majesty's 
  

   Envoy 
  Extraordinary 
  and 
  Minister 
  Plenipotentiary 
  at 
  the 
  Court 
  of 
  

   China 
  failed 
  to 
  elicit 
  any 
  information 
  as 
  to 
  the 
  earthquake 
  having 
  

   been 
  felt 
  in 
  China 
  ; 
  but 
  as 
  the 
  region 
  where 
  it 
  could 
  have 
  been 
  felt 
  is 
  

   one 
  of 
  the 
  most 
  remote 
  from 
  the 
  capital, 
  largely 
  inhabited 
  by 
  primitive 
  

   tribes, 
  and 
  as 
  the 
  earthquake 
  must 
  have 
  been 
  too 
  feeble 
  to 
  attract 
  

   general 
  attention, 
  no 
  great 
  value 
  can 
  be 
  attached 
  to 
  the 
  negative 
  

   result 
  of 
  the 
  enquiry. 
  

  

  On 
  the 
  north 
  the 
  only 
  information 
  available 
  is 
  that 
  contained 
  in 
  the 
  

   reports 
  of 
  Colonel 
  Wylie 
  and 
  Mr. 
  Hobson 
  quoted 
  in 
  the 
  last 
  chapter. 
  

  

  Summarising 
  the 
  results 
  reviewed' 
  above 
  we 
  find 
  that 
  the 
  area 
  over 
  

   which 
  the 
  shock 
  is 
  known 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  felt 
  amounted 
  to 
  not 
  less 
  than 
  

   4,200,000 
  square 
  miles 
  (statute), 
  or 
  3,120,000 
  square 
  kilometers 
  and 
  

   this 
  does 
  not 
  include 
  the 
  detached 
  area 
  near 
  Ahmedabad 
  or 
  any 
  part 
  

   of 
  the 
  Bay 
  of 
  Bengal, 
  nor 
  does 
  it 
  include 
  the 
  large 
  area 
  in 
  Thibet 
  or 
  

   Western 
  China, 
  over 
  which 
  the 
  shock 
  was 
  certainly 
  sensible, 
  though 
  

   we 
  have 
  received 
  no 
  reports. 
  If 
  we 
  round 
  off 
  the 
  area 
  by 
  including 
  

   these 
  tracts 
  we 
  get 
  a 
  total 
  area 
  over 
  which 
  the 
  shock 
  was 
  sensible 
  

   as 
  about 
  1,750,000 
  square 
  miles, 
  (4,550,000 
  sq. 
  km.) 
  while 
  the 
  area 
  

   over 
  which 
  it 
  is 
  known 
  to 
  have 
  done 
  serious 
  damage 
  to 
  masonry 
  

   buildings 
  is 
  not 
  less 
  than 
  145 
  000 
  square 
  miles, 
  (377,000 
  sq. 
  km.,) 
  

   or, 
  if 
  we 
  include 
  the 
  area 
  from 
  which 
  no 
  reports 
  are 
  procurable, 
  about 
  

   160,000 
  square 
  miles 
  (416,000 
  sq. 
  km.). 
  

  

  These 
  estimates, 
  it 
  must 
  clearly 
  be 
  understood, 
  large 
  as 
  the 
  figures 
  

   may 
  seem, 
  are 
  not 
  sensational 
  ones. 
  That 
  is 
  to 
  say, 
  the 
  extremest 
  

   possible 
  dimensions 
  have 
  not 
  been 
  taken 
  in 
  order 
  to 
  attain 
  a 
  larcre 
  

   result, 
  but 
  so 
  far 
  as 
  possible 
  the 
  actual 
  areas 
  calculated, 
  and 
  if 
  the 
  

   figures 
  are 
  in 
  error 
  at 
  all 
  it 
  is 
  in 
  defect 
  and 
  not 
  in 
  excess. 
  

   ( 
  52 
  ) 
  

  

  