﻿298 
  OLDHAM.- 
  GRF.AT 
  EARTHQUAKE 
  OF 
  1897. 
  

  

  3 
  inches 
  from 
  its 
  original 
  position, 
  and 
  as 
  it 
  has 
  not 
  moved 
  relatively 
  to 
  the 
  sur- 
  

   rounding 
  country, 
  it 
  proves 
  that 
  the 
  ground 
  around, 
  which 
  is 
  composed 
  of 
  newer 
  

   (recent) 
  alluvium, 
  must 
  have 
  shifted 
  bodily 
  towards 
  the 
  north. 
  1 
  

  

  At 
  this 
  place 
  and 
  many 
  others 
  along 
  the 
  line 
  where 
  the 
  railway 
  runs 
  over 
  

   beds 
  of 
  newer 
  alluvium 
  there 
  are 
  numerous 
  cases 
  of 
  cracking 
  of 
  the 
  ground 
  and 
  

   outpourings 
  of 
  sand 
  and 
  water, 
  the 
  sand 
  having 
  the 
  same 
  characters 
  as 
  that 
  

   ejected 
  at 
  the 
  other 
  places 
  I 
  visited. 
  At 
  one 
  place 
  near 
  Shaistaganj 
  a 
  native 
  

   said 
  that 
  petroleum 
  came 
  up 
  with 
  the 
  sand, 
  but 
  I 
  was 
  unable 
  to 
  verify 
  that 
  

   statement. 
  Traces 
  of 
  sand 
  craters 
  very 
  much 
  washed 
  down 
  were 
  seen 
  in 
  one 
  

   or 
  two 
  places. 
  

  

  Comillah. 
  — 
  Just 
  before 
  the 
  earthquake 
  at 
  this 
  place 
  a 
  noise 
  was 
  heard, 
  which 
  

   the 
  Collector 
  described 
  as 
  the 
  noise 
  of 
  trains 
  coming 
  from 
  the 
  north-east 
  (others 
  

   say 
  north-west), 
  but 
  after 
  the 
  shock 
  he 
  heard 
  nothing. 
  The 
  District 
  Engineer, 
  how 
  

   ever, 
  told 
  me 
  that 
  the 
  noise 
  continued 
  during 
  the 
  shock 
  and 
  for 
  about 
  3 
  minutes 
  

   after, 
  and 
  then 
  there 
  were 
  two 
  reports 
  like 
  gunshots 
  in 
  the 
  distance, 
  and 
  after 
  

   the 
  first 
  report 
  the 
  earthquake 
  rumbling 
  ceased 
  ; 
  the 
  direction 
  from 
  which 
  these 
  

   sounds 
  came 
  was 
  the 
  north-east. 
  The 
  information 
  that 
  the 
  rumbling 
  con- 
  

   tinued 
  after 
  the 
  shock 
  was 
  confirmed 
  by 
  the 
  reports 
  of 
  other 
  people, 
  but 
  it 
  

   seems 
  then 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  less 
  loud 
  than 
  before. 
  The 
  reports 
  were 
  heard 
  by 
  several 
  

   people, 
  both 
  European 
  and 
  native, 
  and 
  by 
  some 
  they 
  are 
  said 
  to 
  resemble 
  the 
  Barisal 
  

   guns. 
  These 
  latter 
  reports 
  are 
  heard 
  faintly 
  at 
  other 
  times 
  in 
  Comillah, 
  chiefly 
  

   in 
  the 
  night 
  between 
  2-0 
  a.m. 
  and 
  3-0 
  a. 
  m. 
  

  

  In 
  Comillah 
  the 
  damage 
  done 
  by 
  the 
  earthquake 
  is 
  less 
  than 
  in 
  Dacca, 
  and 
  

   of 
  the 
  pucca 
  houses, 
  which 
  I 
  saw, 
  only 
  two 
  had 
  to 
  be 
  evacuated 
  after 
  the 
  earth- 
  

   quake. 
  Of 
  the 
  direction 
  of 
  the 
  earthquake-wave 
  the 
  evidence 
  is 
  somewhat 
  

   contradictory, 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  following 
  I 
  will 
  give 
  accounts 
  of 
  the 
  chief 
  cases 
  of 
  

   damage 
  and 
  evidences 
  of 
  the 
  direction 
  of 
  the 
  shock. 
  The 
  belfry 
  of 
  the 
  church 
  

   was 
  cracked 
  across 
  by 
  a 
  horizontal 
  crack 
  and 
  the 
  top 
  part 
  was 
  shifted 
  forward 
  in 
  

   a 
  direction 
  of 
  W 
  20 
  N, 
  which 
  is 
  the 
  direction 
  in 
  which 
  the 
  church 
  is 
  set. 
  

   The 
  top, 
  and 
  three 
  side, 
  minarets 
  of 
  a 
  Hindu 
  shrine 
  in 
  the 
  bazar 
  had 
  fallen, 
  but 
  

   the 
  pieces 
  had 
  been 
  removed 
  before 
  the 
  time 
  of 
  my 
  visit 
  ; 
  the 
  places 
  where 
  they 
  

   had 
  fallen 
  were, 
  however, 
  pointed 
  out 
  to 
  me 
  by 
  the 
  keepers 
  of 
  the 
  shrine, 
  and 
  from 
  

   this, 
  and 
  the 
  marks 
  where 
  the 
  falling 
  pieces 
  had 
  struck 
  a 
  side 
  cornice, 
  I 
  put 
  

   the 
  direction 
  of 
  movement 
  as 
  S 
  40 
  W. 
  The 
  District 
  Engineer 
  noticed 
  the 
  

   direction 
  in 
  which 
  the 
  water 
  in 
  a 
  small 
  tank 
  at 
  Chaumata 
  was 
  swaying 
  at 
  

   the 
  time 
  of 
  the 
  earthquake, 
  and 
  this 
  was 
  almost 
  exactly 
  east 
  and 
  west. 
  The 
  temple 
  

   of 
  Jaganath, 
  about 
  a 
  mile 
  outside 
  from 
  the 
  bazar, 
  was 
  very 
  badly 
  cracked 
  and 
  

   damaged, 
  part 
  of 
  its 
  eastern 
  face 
  having 
  fallen 
  out, 
  and 
  since 
  the 
  earthquake 
  

   the 
  temple 
  is 
  leaning 
  over 
  in 
  a 
  direction 
  which 
  I 
  measured 
  as 
  near 
  as 
  possible 
  as 
  

   S 
  20 
  E. 
  The 
  nat 
  mandira 
  attached 
  to 
  the 
  temple 
  has 
  its 
  walls 
  built 
  exactly 
  

   north 
  and 
  south 
  and 
  east 
  and 
  west, 
  and 
  the 
  walls 
  on 
  the 
  west 
  and 
  south 
  sides 
  

   have 
  both 
  fallen 
  completely 
  down 
  outwards. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  tank 
  at 
  the 
  back 
  of 
  Mr. 
  Delay 
  ne's 
  house 
  the 
  water 
  was 
  set 
  swaying 
  by 
  

   the 
  earthquake 
  in 
  a 
  direction 
  roughly 
  north-west 
  and 
  south-east. 
  From 
  the 
  top 
  

   of 
  the 
  Sub-Judge's 
  Court 
  the 
  western 
  parapet 
  wall 
  had 
  fallen 
  crashing 
  into 
  the 
  

   oof 
  of 
  the 
  verandah 
  below. 
  

  

  1 
  See 
  p. 
  94. 
  

  

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  298 
  ) 
  

  

  