THE KURRAJONG EARTHQUAKE. 



89 



The isoseismals show that this earthquake has some 

 special features which render it of great importance, and 

 it is therefore desirable to publish a number of the letters 

 received describing the phenomena within the region where 

 the shock was felt. The more important of these are given 

 as follows : — 



Report of L. S. Vincent Welsh of Abcrmain. 



"Without the least warning a distinct pulsating rumble 

 with vibration of the floor commenced. (The house is large, 

 is built of wood, and supported upon brick pillars.) The 

 pulsations gave one the impression that some great force 

 of wind was swaying the house. My sense of direction 

 suggested to me that the pulsations were coming from the 

 south, as that is where they seemed to originate. 



The floor appeared to give violent bumps as though some 

 one were jumping hard upon it (possibly the joists lifted 

 from the brick piers) The windows and doors rattled 

 violently. I called out to my housekeeper to ask her what 

 she was jumping about for in her room. She came to her 

 door in a seriously alarmed state and said that she was at 

 a loss to account for the noise. The house stands upon a 

 gravel soil overlying thick beds of sandstone and lower 

 down conglomerate overlying the lower seam of Abermain 

 No. 1 Coal Mine. 



The strata are dipping in a south-easterly direction. I 

 remarked at the time that the disturbance was due either 

 to an earth tremor or else to a huge fall in the mine. I 

 was greatly interested to read next day an account of this 

 earth tremor. Curiously enough the only other people 

 about this township who heard the quake live almost in a 

 a line with me in a southerly direction. The owner of the 

 house is head clerk at the Abermain mine and his first 

 impression was that a big subsidence had taken place in the 

 mine, as the workings extend under our house." 



