Earthquakes in California during 1865.
BY DR. JOHN B. TRASK.
As in the preceding year we have had much frequency in shocks of earthquake, with but trifling damage.
January 9th, 7 h.—A smart shock at Santa Rosa, Sonoma County.
January 19th, 8 h. 8 m.—A light shock at San Francisco.
March 5th, 8 h. 45 m.—A light shock at Visalia, consisting of a tremulous motion, succeeded by a roll or wave after an interval of about four seconds.
March 7th, 23 h.—A smart shock at San Francisco.
March 8th, 6 h. 22 m.—A smart shock at San Francisco.
March 30th, 7 h. 28 m.—A very smart shock at San Francisco; this was felt at Oakland.
April 15th, 0 h. 40 m.—A severe shock occurred at San Diego, consisting of three waves, following each other in quick succession; the shock was preceded with a loud rushing sound.
April 18th, 13 h. 31 m.—A light shock at San Francisco, and noticed at Angel Island and Oakland. This shock was severe at San Juan (south), and felt at precisely the same hour.
April 27th, 15 h. 56 m.—A shock at San Francisco.
May 24th, 3 h. 21 m.—A smart shock at San Francisco, consisting of a single wave. At San Juan (south) the earthquake consisted of two sharp shocks, and at Santa Cruz of one only. At the latter localities it was three and four minutes later than at this city.
September 22d (no hour).—A smart shock occurred at Yreka.
October 1st, 9 h. 15 m.—A very smart shock was felt at Fort Humboldt, and throughout the district of Humboldt Bay.
October 8th, 12 h. 46 m.—A severe shock at San Francisco. This earthquake was the most violent of any occurring on this peninsula since the American occupancy, but was not sufficiently heavy to do serious damage; all the injuries sustained to property were of a trivial nature, the principal being the demolition of parts of the parapet walls erected above the roofs, to shield the latter in cases of fire in adjoining buildings; the fracture of walls in every instance occurred in insecure buildings, and heavy buildings erected on the made lands of the city front.
At San José, Santa Clara, and Santa Cruz, the earthquake appears to have been equally severe as in this city. At Petaluma, on the north, it was also quite severe. At Sacramento the shock was not marked by the same severity as at the other localities mentioned. At Stockton the shock was heavy, but no damage done, nor was there any damage at Sacramento. The shock was severe at Grass Valley.
The direction of the wave in this earthquake was north fifty degrees west; the limited area over which it extended has not furnished sufficient data to calculate its velocity.
This earthquake differs from all others that have occurred in this locality in this particular: the earth continued to vibrate with increasing and again decreasing degrees of force for ten hours, at no time entirely ceasing during this period.
22 h. 1 m., another light shock, consisting of a single vibration.
23 h. 50 m., another shock. After this shock the vibrations of the earth ceased to be noticeable.
October 9th, 10 h. 34 m.—Another light shock.
11 h. 32 m., another shock. After this shock the earth continued to vibrate at intervals till noon of the tenth.
October 13th, 2 h. 5 m.—A smart shock at San Francisco; felt at Oakland and Santa Clara; also at Angel Island.
October 14th, 23 h. 45 m.—Another shock at San Francisco.
October 15th, 3 h. 40 m.—Another shock at San Francisco.
November 24th, 3 h. 45 m.—A smart shock at Watsonville, Santa Cruz Co.
December 7th, 1 h. 15 m.—A light shock at San Francisco.
Professor Whitney presented the plate published by Mr. Haidinger, the distinguished Chief of the Austrian Geological Survey, to exhibit the structure of the Carleton meteoric iron. This plate, together with an elaborate article describing the appearance and structure of this meteorite, is published in the proceedings of the Vienna Academy of Science, Vol. XLVIII, page 301.
Professor Whitney also made some remarks on the nature and distribution of the meteorites which have, up to the present time, been discovered on the Pacific Coast and in Mexico; of these remarks the following is an abstract.
It is remarkable that no meteoric stones have ever been discovered, either near the Pacific coast or, indeed, so far as we know, anywhere on this side of the Rocky Mountains. Masses of meteoric iron, on the other hand, are known to exist in quite a number of localities, and many of these masses are of very large size.
On page eleven, of the third volume of the Academy’s Proceedings, I have given a list of the localities of meteoric iron known in Arizona and Northern Mexico. This was done in order to attract the attention of explorers and prospectors to these remarkable masses, and in the hope of getting more definite information in regard to some of them. Indeed, some additional items have already been obtained in reference to the masses there noticed.
It is stated by several persons who have visited Southern Arizona, among whom Dr. Horn may especially be mentioned, that it is universally believed, and vouched for by apparently trustworthy explorers, that there are many large masses of iron near the summit of the range next east of Tucson. This is called on the latest map of Arizona, (that published by Mr. Gird) the “Sierra de la Santa Caterina.” Whether this is the same as the “Sierra de la Madera,” mentioned by Velasco, as the locality of “enormous masses of pure iron, between Tucson and Tubac,” I have been unable to ascertain.
Dr. J. B. Trask saw, in August, 1849, a large mass of meteoric iron, at the village of Rio Florida, partly buried in the ground at the corner of the plaza. This may, perhaps, be the same mass mentioned by Mr. Bartlett, as existing “at the Hacienda de Concepcion, on the road from Chihuahua to Rio Florida.” Dr. Trask, however, has a distinct recollection that the mass he saw was at the village of Rio Florida, and not at the Hacienda.
Dr. Veatch saw, in 1849, a large mass of iron at Santa Rosa, Coahuila, which was then in use as an anvil, at a blacksmith’s shop, and was informed that many pieces of native iron had been used there for various purposes. The mass which Dr. Veatch saw, was of about the size of an ordinary anvil. It was said to have been brought from the mountains northwest of the town. This statement corroborates that of Schott, in the Mexican Boundary Report. (Vol. I, Part 2, page 34.)
It is a remarkable fact, considering the abundance of meteoric iron near our borders, that no meteorite, either stony or metallic, has yet been found within the limits of California. The piece of iron from Honcut Creek, found by Dr. Trask, and supposed to be of celestial origin, proved, on careful examination, to be ordinary cast iron. A fragment of the mass was referred to Professor Brush, and pronounced by him not to be meteoric. The existence of a piece of cast iron, in the locality where this was discovered, is not easily explained. In connection with what has just been said of the existence of meteoric iron in California, it should be added, that Dr. J. G. Cooper thinks that he observed some small pieces of native iron on the Mohave River, a little above its sink. By accident no specimen of this supposed meteorite were saved, so that it is not possible to say that Dr. Cooper may not have been mistaken. The attention of explorers in that region is invited to this supposed locality.
An additional reason for believing Dr. Cooper’s observations to be correct is, that the locality lies in the prolongation of the path or belt in which a considerable number of masses of meteoric iron have already been found. It is certainly either a very interesting fact, or else a remarkable coincidence, that the localities of meteoric iron in Arizona and northern Mexico, lie nearly in a straight line with each other, which line extends from northwest to southeast, for a distance of twelve hundred and fifty miles, or from the Colorado River, at La Paz, to the province of San Luis Potosi, in Mexico. Along this line, at points from two hundred to two hundred and fifty miles apart, in some places one mass of iron, and in others quite a number of them, have fallen, indicating very strongly a common origin for the whole, or that they may all be fragments of one immense meteor which passed diagonally across the continent, throwing off masses in its progress. The large mass of iron discovered by Dr. Evans, on Bald Mountain, near Port Orford, in Oregon, is in a locality not far distant from the path of the supposed meteor.
The belt of meteoric iron masses may also be prolonged much farther to the south, through Mexico, and in the same general southeasterly direction, as far as the province of Oaxaca. The localities in the provinces of Durango, Zacatecas, Mexico, and Oaxaca lie very nearly in the same northwest-southeast direction from each other; but are in a line a little to the west of the main belt which has been traced down from the Colorado River. It is certain that the central part of Mexico has been highly favored in respect to the distribution of meteoric iron masses, which are not only of frequent occurrence, but often of large size. Perhaps it may be not too wild a speculation to suggest, that the grand disruption of the meteor may have taken place in this part of its course, and that the fragments were scattered far and wide in all directions. It certainly seems difficult to account for the peculiar position of the masses of iron found on the Pacific side of the continent, and their great abundance in central Mexico, on any other theory than the one which has here been suggested.
Authorities are not at hand for comparing the chemical composition of all the masses belonging to this series, or belt, which have been analyzed; but it is my impression that those meteoric irons which have been examined do resemble each other sufficiently, in the nature and proportion of the ingredients they contain, to add to the probability of their having had a common origin. The specimens thus far analyzed do not represent more than half the localities known to exist. A farther and more complete investigation of the physical and chemical character of all the meteoric masses of Arizona and Mexico, with reference to the possibility of their being originally parts of one body, is suggested as an interesting subject for those specially devoted to this class of researches.
The following resolution, introduced by Professor Whitney, at a previous meeting, in accordance with the Constitution, was adopted.
Resolved, That any Corresponding Member who may take up his residence in this city, may become a Resident Member, on notifying the Recording Secretary that such is his wish.
Mr. W. H. Dall was elected a Resident Member, December 4th, 1865.