By attaching levers to the end of the pointers to multiply any motion that might take place, no doubt the indications would be more frequent and more definite. It would also be easier to note the relative distances of motion in two directions, namely, how far the cracks had closed and how far they had opened. As to whether motion would occur or not, much would no doubt depend upon the direction of the earthquake.
Prevention of Fractures.—One conclusion which may perhaps be drawn from these observations is, that a cracked building at the time of an earthquake shows a certain amount of flexibility. Whether a building which had been designed with cracks or joints between those parts which were likely to have different periods of vibration would be more stable, so far as earthquake shakings are concerned, than a similar building put up in an ordinary manner, is a matter to be decided by experiment. Certainly some of the cracks which have been examined indicate that if they had not existed, the strain upon the portion of the building where they occur would have been extremely great.
Direction of Cracks.—In looking at the cracks produced by small earthquakes it is interesting to note the manner of their extension. The basements of the buildings which have been most carefully examined are, for a height of two or three feet, built of large rectangular blocks of a greyish-coloured volcanic rock. In these parts the cracks pass in and out between the joints of the stone, indicating that the stones have evidently been stronger than the mortar which bound them together, and as a consequence the latter had to give way. Above this basement when the cracks enter the brickwork, they no longer exclusively confine themselves to the joints, but run in an irregular line through all they meet with, sometimes across the bricks and sometimes through the mortar joints. In places where they have traversed the brickwork, we can say that the mortar has been stronger than the bricks. This traversing of the bricks rather than the joints is, I think, the general rule for the direction of the cracks in the brickwork of Tokio buildings.
The Pitch of Roofs.—From observation of the effects produced by earthquakes, it appears to us that the houses which lost the greater number of tiles appear to be those with the steepest pitch, and those where the tiles were simply laid upon the roof and not in any manner fastened down. It would seem that destruction of this sort might to a great extent be obviated by giving the roofs a less inclination and fixing the tiles with nails. It was also noticed that the greatest disturbance amongst the tiles was upon the ridges of the roofs. Destruction of this sort might be overcome by giving especial attention to these portions during the construction of the roof.
Fig. 20. Fig. 21.
Relative Position of Openings in Walls.—From what has been said about the fractures in the buildings of Tokio it will have been seen that, with but few exceptions, they have all taken place above openings like doorways and windows. If architecture demands that openings like arches should be placed one above another in heavy walls of this kind, as in fig. 17, there will be lines of weakness running through the openings parallel to the dotted lines. As arches are only intended to resist vertical thrusts, special construction must be adopted to make them strong enough to resist horizontal pulls. For instance, a flat arch would offer more resistance to horizontal pulls than an arch put together with ordinary voussoirs, there being in the former case more friction to prevent the component parts sliding over each other. Or again, above each arch an iron girder or wooden lintel might be inserted in the brick or stone arch. It was suggested to me by my colleague, Mr. Perry, that the best form calculated to give a wall uniform strength, would be to build it so that the openings of each tier would occupy alternate positions, that is to say, along lines parallel to the struts and ties of a girder. In this way we should have our materials so arranged that they would offer the same resistance to horizontal as to vertical movements. Such a wall is shown in fig. 20: the dotted lines running through the openings, and all similar lines parallel to the former, representing lines of weakness. If we compare this with fig. 21, we shall see that in the case of a horizontal movement a b or of a vertical movement c d, we should rather expect to find fractures in a house built like fig. 21 than in one built like fig. 20. If, however, these two buildings were shaken by a shock which had an angle of emergence of about 45° in the direction e f, the effects might be reversed. Usually, however, and always in a town like Tokio which is visited by shocks originating at a distance, the movements are practically horizontal ones, and, therefore, buildings erected on the principles illustrated by fig. 20 should be much superior, so far as resisting earthquakes is concerned, to buildings constructed in the ordinary manner, as in fig. 21. Fractures following a vertical line of weakness are shown in the accompanying drawing, fig. 22, of the Church of St. Augustin, at Manilla, shattered by the earthquakes of 1880.
The last House in a Row.—When an earthquake shock enters a line of buildings, and proceeds in a direction coincident with that of the buildings, we should expect that the last of these houses, being unsupported on one side, would be in the position of the last person in Tyndall’s row of boys. From this it would seem that the end house in a row would show the greatest tendency to fly away from its neighbours. If the last house stood upon the edge of a deep canal or a cliff, there would be a layer of ground, equal in thickness to the depth of the canal or to the height of the cliff, as the case may be, which would also be in a position to be thrown forward. The effect which is sometimes produced upon an end building is shown in fig. 23, which is taken from the photograph of a house shattered in 1868 at San Francisco.
Fig. 22.—Church of St. Augustin, Manilla. Earthquakes of July 18–20, 1880.