COMPARISON WITH OTHER SEVERE EARTHQUAKES IN SAME REGION. 445 
Calaveras Valley. — Only one or two chimneys were dislocated. (J. Patton.) 
Santa Clara County. — Messrs. J. W. Hines and C. Valpey, and Miss Bennett, of San 
Jose; Mr. H. B. Valpey, of Santa Clara; Messrs. P. Anderson and C. B. Mendor and 
Mrs. W. Smith, of Berryessa, all of whom were intimately acquainted with this section 
of the country in 1868, report that there was no crack south of the county line. 
Alcatraz Island. — A rumbling sound accompanied the shock, and the island vibrated 
with a jerking motion. (Dr. L. Hubbard, U.S. A., in San Francisco Times, Oct. 22, 1868.) 
Colma. — “I was then 16 years of age and lived in San Mateo County, a mile or so 
south of the present town of Colma. With my father I was digging and sacking potatoes 
ina field. I was sewing up a sack, when my father said: ‘Look at that mountain. What 
is the matter with it?’ We felt no earthquake, but the mountain seemed to be bobbing 
up and down. A freight train was going north along the 8. P. track. Shortly after we 
had observed the mountain apparently moving, the earthquake reached the railroad 
track and the freight train appeared to gyrate like a snake. The next instant we felt 
it. The shock was very severe, throwing us to the ground and knocking over sacks of 
potatoes. A band of loose horses, including a lot of young stock, in an adjoining field, 
ran around the field at great speed, utterly panic-stricken. The house we lived in was 
in a flat some 0.5 mile from where we were at work. When we reached it, we found 
that milk pans in the pantry had been entirely emptied of their contents. Some panes 
of glass were broken and some crockery and glassware were thrown down and destroyed; 
but the house, a light frame building, was not injured. There were 48 shocks between 
the first one and midnight that night. 
“T do not now recall any serious damage done in San Mateo County. There were 
some landslides occasioned along precipitous hills and creek banks, but the buildings 
in that section were all frame, and none of them were destroyed to my knowledge.” 
(J. A. Graves.) 
San Mateo. — Vibrations from the north for 15 seconds. (Alta California.) 
Redwood City. — The court-house was wrecked and other buildings were damaged. 
The shock seemed to come from the southeast and lasted 30 seconds. (Redwood Gazette, 
Oct. 24, 1868.) 
Mountain View. — Severest earthquake yet felt. Far worse than that of 1865. Shock 
from northwest to southeast. (Alta California, Oct. 23, 1868.) 
Santa Clara. — Severe shock. Motion northeast to southwest. No serious damage. 
(Alta California, Oct. 22, 1868.) 
San Jose. — “The most terrible earth shock ever experienced in this section since 
the settlement of this country by Americans, occurred yesterday morning at 8 o’clock. 
A dense fog hung over the city at the time, when, with scarcely a premonitory tremor, 
the shock was upon us in all its force. Buildings and trees seemed to pitch about like 
ships in a storm at sea. Fire walls and chimneys were thrown down in all parts of the 
city. The heavy brick cornice of Murphy’s building at the corner of Market and Eldo- 
rado Streets fell to the ground. The Presbyterian Church has sustained an immense 
damage. The brick turrets are all down, and large portions of the steeple were pre- 
cipitated thru the roof to the floor, crushing the organ and causing great damage to the 
gallery and fixtures below. The walls of the steeple are almost a total wreck and will 
have to be taken down. $5,000 would not make good the damage done to the church. 
The large water-tank on the roof of Moody’s flour mill fell thru the roof, carrying destruc- 
tion in its course. Their wooden store-house, 100 feet in length, filled with grain, is a 
total wreck and the grain badly mixed. Two huge chimneys of the San Jose Institute 
were thrown down, one of them crushing thru into the rooms below. A portion of the 
rear wall of Welch’s livery stable fell. Otter’s unfinished block at the corner of First 
and St. John Streets, sustained a very serious damage. There is not a brick building 
