310 MIDDLEMISS : KANGRA EARTHQUAKE. 



It would have been interesting to compare with these the effects on 

 pliable wooden or entirely bamboo structures with thatch roofs, but so 

 far as I know there were none of this type in the station. 



Until, and unless, earthquakes become a common occurrence instead 

 of an isolated, hardly remembered catastrophe, it would, in the 

 writer's opinion, be useless to urge the construction of earthquake-proof 

 buildings. It would also be useless to discountenance building on ridges 

 and spurs for the same reason. There are too many immediate advan- 

 tages of economy and convenience to be derived from using the mate- 

 rial that is close at hand, from following the styles of building familiar 

 instead of strange, and from adopting any building site that is available 

 and conveniently placed, to make it reasonable to use legislative action 

 in restricting private enterprise to certain forms of structure and to 

 certain localities. Whether the Government itself will think it wise to 

 set an example by building its own offices on some earthquake-proof 

 model or not, remains so far as I know, to be as yet decided. If this 

 should be determined on, the easily available supply of rounded river 

 boulders from the neighbouring stream -beds should be utilized for found- 

 ations, on which a strongly keyed and framed house could move as it 

 were on ball bearings. 



Although we have no accounts of eye-witnesses from Kangra, there 

 are certain observations of overturned objects (describ- 



Kangra. 



ed at p. 35) which give us some details regarding the 

 other wave elements of the shock at that place in addition to its mere 

 intensity. The gate pillars and simple rectangular tombs in the 

 Bhawan cemetery were found to yield the following values for the wave 

 elements : — 



Acceleration . =13 feet per second per second 



Amplitude . = 9 J inches 

 Velocity . =3^ feet per second 



Period. . = 1-J seconds 



and it is probable thai the Hindu temple sihrts which were either 

 overturned or in a leaning condition would give us much the same 

 figures if their more complicated shape could be reduced to a simplified 



