360 



MIDDLEMISS : KANGRA EARTHQUAKE. 



ing for their apparent separation merely on defective time observa- 

 tion. The truth of this will be apparent if we for a moment consider 

 the big shock of the 4th itself. We know that this was a single 

 phenomenon whose time of occurrence could not have varied more than 

 about 7 minutes at most. But, if this shock had not been recognisable 

 by its predominating features, and we had merely regarded the 

 successive times at which any shocks have been recorded in the lists, 

 this one shock would have the appearance of being a series extending 

 from long before 6 a.m. to long after 6-30. It follows from this that 

 the extremely large assemblage of aftershocks, which in the list appear 

 t j follow the big shock, are not really so many actually distinct shocks. 

 On the contrary they must represent a much smaller number of 

 actual occurrences that have become, so to speak, spread out by 

 accidental misrepresentation of the noted times. 



We fortunately possess a means of checking any gross form of 

 A check on the mistake due to this unnatural fullness of the list, 

 above misconception- inasmuch as some of the first statements in that list 

 are of a general kind — so many aftershocks being recorded as having 

 occurred within so many hours after the main shock. And it is very 

 noticeable that these individual statements from typical localities re- 

 garding the frequency of the aftershocks during the first day fall far 

 below what w uld be surmised Lorn a glance at the list. For instance 

 we have :— 



Hosbiarpur . . .1 aftershock every 1 hour. 



Naggar 



Simla 



Sialkot 



Ludhiana 



Feiozepore 



Mussoorie 



Average 



or an average of 1 every 30 minutes instead of 1 every 2 or 3 minutes 

 as shown in the chronological list. Let us, however, but assume that 

 the actual sensible. aftershocks did really occur not more frequently than 



2 aftershocks 



i> 



1 „ 



1 aftershock 



it 



l „ 



7 aftershocks 



JJ 



4 hours. 



9 



it 



4 „ 



V 



if 



4 „ 



3 

 



i> 

 •i 



1 hour. 

 16 hours. 



