Boiling Mud Gushers After Earthquake
THE day after the great earthquake, hundreds of gushers of boiling hot mud leaped from the earth near Pajaro, on the Southern Pacific Coast Line. Along the tracks from Salinas (Monterey County) to Pajaro, and branching to Del Monte, trackmen were terrified by these new phenomena. In some places streams of hot sand and loam spurted to a height of ten to fourteen feet. Streams of hot muck ran along the track in ditches. One of the section houses was surrounded by a stream of this mud, and its occupant had to make haste in order to escape. These gushers showed especially at points where the track was settling. An engine and train-master was sent to investigate, and hundreds of craters were seen beyond where the engine could go. Quicksand areas were found where none had been noted before. This region is near the southern limit of the greatest quake extent.