INCREASE OF EARTHQUAKES.
By Editor
SOME who desire to make it appear that the world is growing better are putting forth the claim that earthquakes are growing less and less frequent. Some have expressed displeasure that this journal teaches the opposite. We will let the following statistics speak upon the matter, and they will do so without favor or prejudice. |
No. |
No. of years |
Average |
|---|
| Those recorded before A. D. 1 |
58 |
1,700 |
1 in 29 years |
| Thence to the end of 9th century |
197 |
900 |
1 in 4 " |
| " " " " 15th " |
532 |
600 |
1 in 1 year |
| " " " " 18th " |
2,804 |
300 |
9 in 1 " |
| " to 1850 |
3,240 |
50 |
64 in 1 " |
| " " " 1868 |
5,000 |
18 |
277 in 1 " |
Of destructive earthquakes, such as have overthrown cities and destroyed many lives, the number registered is about as follows: |
No. |
No. of years |
Average |
|---|
| From B. C. 1700 to A. D. 96 |
16 |
1,796 |
1 in 112 years |
| From A. D. 96 to 1850 |
204 |
1,754 |
1 in 8 " |
| From 1850 to 1865 |
15 |
15 |
1 in 1 year |
| From 1865 to 1868 |
15 |
3 |
5 in 1 " |
These statistics are from a work by Robert Mallett, an English seismologist. From the "Statistician and Economist" of 1890 we take the following table of "some of the principal earthquakes that have occurred since the twelfth century," just as they are tabulated there: | Year |
Place |
Persons killed |
Year |
Place |
Persons killed |
|---|
| 1137 |
Sicily |
15,000 |
1812 |
So. California |
50 |
| 1158 |
Syria |
20,000 |
1822 |
Aleppo |
22,000 |
| 1268 |
Cilicia |
60,000 |
1829 |
Murcia |
6,000 |
| 1456 |
Naples |
40,000 |
1830 |
Canton |
6,000 |
| 1531 |
Lisbon |
30,000 |
1842 |
Cape Haytien |
4,000 |
| 1626 |
Naples |
70,000 |
1857 |
Calabria |
10,000 |
| 1647 |
Santiago |
4,000 |
1859 |
Quito |
5,000 |
| 1667 |
Schmaki |
80,000 |
1861 |
Mendoza (S. Am.) |
12,000 |
| 1692 |
Jamaica |
3,000 |
1868 |
Peru and Ecuador |
25,000 |
| 1693 |
Sicily |
100,000 |
1872 |
Inyo, Cal. |
100 |
| 1703 |
Aquila (Italy) |
5,000 |
1875 |
Colombia |
14,000 |
| 1703 |
Yeddo (Japan) |
190,000 |
1880 |
Manila |
3,000 |
| 1706 |
The Abruzzi |
15,000 |
1881 |
Scio |
4,000 |
| 1716 |
Algiers |
18,000 |
1883 |
Ischia |
4,000 |
| 1726 |
Palermo |
6,000 |
1883 |
Java |
50,000 |
| 1731 |
Peking |
95,000 |
1883 |
Anatolia (Turkey) |
1,000 |
| 1746 |
Lima and Callao |
18,000 |
1884 |
Island of Kishm |
200 |
| 1754 |
Grand Cairo |
40,000 |
1884 |
Alhama |
3,000 |
| 1755 |
Kashan (Persia) |
40,000 |
1885 |
Java |
500 |
| 1755 |
Lisbon |
55,000 |
1885 |
Cashmere |
3,081 |
| 1759 |
Syria |
20,000 |
1885 |
Soper (India) |
700 |
| 1773 |
Guatemala |
23,000 |
1885 |
Asia Minor |
350 |
| 1784 |
Ezinghian (Asia) |
5,000 |
1886 |
Greece |
1,000 |
| 1797 |
Santa Fe to Quito |
41,000 |
1886 |
Charleston |
96 |
| 1805 |
Naples |
6,000 |
1887 |
Villages of Italy |
3,000 |
|
|
|
1888 |
Kien Shin (China) |
4,000 |
It is estimated that 13,000,000 persons have perished by earthquakes. It will be seen that 2 are recorded in the 12th century; 1, in the 13th; 1, in the 15th; 1, in the 16th; 5, in the 17th; 14, in the 18th; 27, in the first 88 years of the 19th. This does not include volcanic eruptions. The above table shows an increase of one hundred per cent. in the earthquakes of the nineteenth century over those of the eighteenth century. Prof. Charles Burckhalter of Chabot Observatory, Oakland, Cal., states that from April 18 to June 4, inclusive, fifty-one earthquakes were recorded by the seismograph of that observatory. Of this number twenty-four occurred within twenty-four hours of the great earthquake, a rate of one each hour.