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-■■~'>' ^HiwirwWiWitNaBiuw

{From the Canadian Naturalist, Vol. VIII. No. (i.)

TFIE EAKTHQUAKK OF NOVEMBER 4, 1877.

(Uoiid lit the Novcmbfi- Moetiii.if uf tlio N'ntiiral History .Socioty, by
I lUNCiPAL Dawson, LL.D., F.R.S)

In the Cauadian Naturalist, Vol. V., first series, will be found
uoteh on tlio eiirtluiuiiko of October 17, ISGo, with ;i summary
of facts relating to the previous shock;- recorded in Canada, and
some general remarks on their periods, local peculiarities and
probable causes. The subject was continued in Vol. 1. of the
new series, 'n connection with the earthquake of April, 18G4, and
in Vol. v., new series, in connection with that of October 2()th,
1870. I may refer to tiiesi- notices for what is known on
Canadian eartliquakes up to that time, and we may now con-
tinue the narrative in connection with the somewhat wide-spread
disturbances of the earth's crust in the present autumn.

On January -Ith, 1871, a shock was experienced at Hawkes-
bury, Ontario, but was not reported fru c any other place. A
mon extensive earthquake occurred on May 22nd, 1871. It
prevailed from the city of Quebec to the western part of Ontario.
The time ibr Quebec is stated at ten minutes before two a. m.,
and tiiere was a seconu shock at twenty minutes past three.
The time for Perth, Ontario, is stated at half-past one. It is
noteworthy that this earthquake occurred at nearly the same
time with that recently experienced. Since 1871 several minor
shocks have been noticed from time to time, but did not attract
much attention, and I have preserved no details in relation to
them.

That of the present mouth was probably the most considerable
since 1871. It occurred at Montreal, at ten minutes before two
on the morning of Sunday, November Uh. At Montreal there
was only one distinct shock, preceded by the usual rumbhog noise,
and sufficiently severe to be distinctly felt, and to shake window-
.sashes and other loose objects, causing them to vibrate for several
seconds. In so far as the published reports give information,
the shock would seem to have been limited to the area along the
river St. Lawrence, extending from near Tliree Rivers on the
east, to Kingston on the west, and in a direction transverse to
the St. Lawrence from Ottawa to the southern part of New
England. In a paper prepared for the American Journal of

Science, by Professor Rockwoo'i, of Princeton, ho dolinjs the
aroa in question as that of " an irregular trapezium whoso angles
are marked by Pembroke, Ont., Three Rivers, P.Q., Hartford,
Conn., and Auburn, N. Y., and whicli is some 200 miles on its
norchern and southern sides, about 300 miles on the eastern side,
and 175 on the western." So far as can be learned from the
reports, the shock seems to have beon most severely felt on the
north side of the valley of the St. Lawrence and about Lake
Champlain, or may be said to have had its oentro in the Adiron-
dack and Green Mountain region.

In the notice of Canadian earthquakes in 18(J0, I mentioned
thit it had been observed that the greatest and most fre-
quent shocks hive occurr^id i little aftor the middle and toward
the close of each century. We are now approaching the latter
period, so that possibly the last siiock may b(! the beginning of
a series of similar phenomena. Since, however, there is no
known reason for this periodicity, it may be a merely accidental
coincidence, or may depend on some cycle of about half a
century.

If we add to the table of carthqutikcs in Eastern America,
given in Vol. V. of the .V'ttur'th'sf, the more recent earthquakes
observed in Canada, the proportion for the several months will
stand as follows: —

January, 9 earthquakes; February, 4 ; March, 5; April, 5;
May, 7 ; June. 3 ; July, 4 ; August. ; September, 4 ; October,
8; November. 15; December, 8. Total, 7*^:.

Thus of seventy-eight recorded Canadian and New England
earthquakes, fifteen, or nearly one-fifth, occcured in November;
forty, or more than half of the total number, in the third of the
year, extending from October to January inclusive. Tlie pub-
lished catalogues sliow that sinular ratios have been observed
elsewhere, at least in the North'^rn hemisphere.

Li .some earthquakes a low state of the barometer lias been
observed, as if a diminution of atmospheric pressure was con-
nected with the movements of the crust producing seismic vib-
rations. This we can readily understand if a low state of the
barometer should prevail over an area of the crust tending to
rise, simultaneously with a high pressure over a sinking area. In
this case a state of previous tension migln. terminate in a rent of
the crust causinoj vibration. In the present ca«e no verv decided
indication of such a cause appears, at least in so fir as this pari

"11.

!
I

of the Sf Lawrence valley is coucerned. Mr. McLeodiiiforms
me that the mean barometer tor tlu^ week preceding the earth-
quake was 29.7504, and for the following wook 30.0864. The
barometer on the Friday before tlie earthqu;iko at 8 p. m. was
29.115, the lowest observed since Mareli hist ; but at 1.50 a. m-
on Saturday it wa.s about 29. 907, which is very near the mean
of November 1870, and also a little above the mean barometer of
the place for the whole year ; and on Sunday afternoon it rose
to 30.200. It would thus appear that the c irthquake was pre-
ceded by a low state of the barometer, and (bllowed by one
unusually liiuh for the season, and this rapid fluctuation was
accompanied with much atniosplieric disturbance in the region
of the Lakes and the St. Lawrence Valley. The weather map
issued by the War Department at Washington for Sunday
morning, November 4th. sliows ,i low barometer in the Gulf of
St. liawrence and a high barometer in the Middle States — the
area of the eartliquake being about half way between the ex-
tremes.

In connection with previous earthquakes it has been ob.served
tlrit tlie greatest intensity of the shocks appeared near the junc-
tion of tlie liaureiitian with the Silurian formations. This
would be a natural consequence eitlusr of the propagation of
vibrations upwards from deep underlying regions through the
Laureutian rocks, or from the overlying sedimentary rocks to-
wards these older rocks. In the case of the recent earthquake,
this appears to have applied chiefly to the border of the Jjauren-
tians extending round by the Ottawa and Kingston to the Adir-
ondaeks, as if a wave propagated throuuli the Silurian formations
had broken against the southern and I'astern sides of the Laureu-
tian region, or a shock originating under the Laureutian of these
regions had extended itself from then» into the Silurian rocks to
the .><outh and east. If the prevailing impression stated in the
reports, that the vibrations passed from W. tuE. or N.W to S.E.,
is correct, the latter would be the more probable supposition.
It is, however, very diflicult to attain to any certainty as to the
actual direction of the disturbance, and some observers give it
as preci.sely the opposite of that above stated.

In the present year there have been violent earthquake .shocks
along the chain oT the Andes. The latest of these heard of was
that ol liima and Call.io on the 9th oi' October. On the west
coast of North America, portions of Oregon and Washington

Tcrritorii? were shaken on the 12th October. On the 14th
Novonibor a slight shock wat- !'elt at Cornwall, Ontario, and on
the ir»tl. November eartliquake shocks occurred over a wide area
in K insas, Iowa, Dakdta and iNobraska.

While the abovo was in press the tbllowiiifi appeared in the
daily newspapers : —

'• A despatch from Beaehburg says: — Two shocks of earth-
quake were felt here this morninu (Dec. LS), the tirst bein;^
between tlic hours of one and two, and the last between live and
six o'clock, the latter bein;: so .-evere as to sliake houses and
arouse the inmates from their slumbers.'

Beachburc is on the south side ol t.\\v Ottawa, abmil twelve
miles north-west of Portaiii' du Fort.

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