A Study of Recent Earthquakes Part 9

For six miles along the South Carolina Railway (A) the damage to the line, though indicative of a strong shock, was of little consequence.

In the first half of this distance no repairs were required, but at 3-2/3 miles the rails were bent and the joints between them opened; at 5 miles, the fish-plates were torn from their fastenings and the joints between the rails opened seven inches; and at nearly 6 miles the joints were again opened, and the road-bed depressed six inches.

After this point, deflections of the line and elevations and depressions of the road-bed were no longer rare. Near the 9-mile point, the intensity of the shock seemed to increase most rapidly; lateral displacements of the line became more frequent as well as greater in amount. The distortions of the lines were probably greatest between 10 and 11 miles; here they were often displaced laterally, sometimes depressed or elevated, and occasionally twisted into S-shaped curves, while many hundred yards of the track were shoved bodily towards the south-east. "The buckling always took place when this lateral shoving encountered a rigid obstacle, usually a long rigid trestle. At the north-western end of the trestle the acc.u.mulation of rails resulted in a sharp kink. Corresponding extensions of the track by the opening of the joints and shearing of the fish-plate bolts occurred some distance to the north-westward." At 11-1/2 miles, the lines were again stretched and the joints opened by about seven inches; but, from this point for more than four miles, the sharp kinks revealing a sliding of the track were entirely absent, though there were still long slight flexures in the lines and changes of level in the road-bed. The railway in this section traverses a district which is partly a swamp and partly a rice-field; and thus it may be, as Major Dutton suggests, that the ground was less fitted to preserve the effects of the shock.[41] At about 18 miles, the line reaches higher and firmer ground; and, from here to Summerville (21-2/3 miles), there were many sinuous flexures. For six miles farther, violent distortions of the rails ceased to occur, the rate of decrease in intensity being most marked near the 23-mile point. The last flexure occurred at Jedburgh (27-1/2 miles) at the south end of a long, heavy trestle (Fig. 27).

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 27.--Flexure of rails at Jedburgh.

(_Dutton._)]

There is thus a certain symmetry in the damage to this line with respect to a point about 15 or 16 miles from the Charleston terminus.

The changes of intensity are most rapid at distances of about 9 and 23 miles from the terminus. Also, on the south-east side of the 16-mile point, the longitudinal displacements of the line are always to the south-east; on the other side, always to the north-west. Major Dutton therefore infers that the epicentre must be on a line drawn nearly through the 16-mile point at right angles to the railway.

Somewhat similar changes were noted along the North-Eastern Railway (B), the Charleston terminus of which is about three-quarters of a mile to the south-east of that of the South Carolina Railway. Slight flexures in the line occurred at distances of 1-1/2 and 4 miles from the terminus, and at about 6 miles the road-bed was depressed, in one part by as much as 22 inches. At about 6-1/3 miles, the joints between the rails were opened 14 inches, and there were slight sinuous flexures in the line near the 7-mile and 8-mile points. The indications of great intensity then rapidly increased, the rate of change being greatest near the 9-mile point. Here, there was a long lateral flexure with a s.h.i.+ft of 4 inches eastward. Half-a-mile farther, the fish-plates were broken and the rails parted 8-1/2 inches. A little beyond the 10-mile point, an embankment 15 feet high was pushed 4-1/2 feet eastward along a chord of 150 feet. At the 12-mile point and beyond, fish-plates were broken, lines were bent and the joints opened; the road-bed was cut by a series of cracks, one of which was 21 inches wide, while the beginning of a long trestle was s.h.i.+fted 8-1/3 feet to the west. From 12-1/2 to 14-1/2 miles, several buildings were damaged or destroyed by a movement which was clearly more vertical than horizontal. Near the 16-mile point, the ground was fissured and thrown into ridges, the rails being similarly bent in a vertical plane. Soon after this, the line reaches a broad, sandy tract, and, though the thickness of the sand is probably not much more than 40 feet in any place, the disturbances diminish almost at once, and, for a distance of more than two miles, there was little damage done to the line. At Mount Holly Station (18 miles), the intensity was so slight that the houses suffered no injury more serious than the loss of chimneys. Half-a-mile farther, the ground becomes less sandy, and the effects of the shock more distinct. The lines were bent in places for about a quarter of a mile, after which they again pa.s.s into the sandy area with a decrease of damage, the last flexure being near the 21-mile point. The rate of change of intensity in this part of the line appears to have been greatest at a distance of about 19-1/2 miles from the terminus, but the exact distance is obviously somewhat uncertain.

There is again a rough symmetry in the damage to the line, the central point being about 14 miles from the Charleston terminus. A line drawn through this point at right angles to the North-Eastern Railway (or rather to that part of it between the 9-mile and 19-1/2-mile points) should pa.s.s through the epicentre. It meets the corresponding line for the South Carolina Railway in a point which is indicated in Figs. 27 and 28 by a small circle (W). Houses and other buildings are rare in the surrounding district; but, as the intensity of the shock diminished outwards in all directions, this point must mark approximately the position of the epicentre. As it is close to the Woodstock Station on the South Carolina Railway, it is called by Major Dutton the Woodstock epicentre.

The Charleston and Savannah Railway (C) uses the same lines as the North-Eastern for the first seven miles from Charleston, and then turns off in a south-westerly direction. For 4-1/2 miles from the junction the signs of disturbance were few and unimportant. The railway then crosses the Ashley River, the banks of which slid towards one another and jammed the drawbridge; but for four miles farther there was no serious damage done to the lines. At about 16-1/2 miles the effects of the shock became rapidly more apparent. For nearly 1-1/2 mile the entire railroad was deflected into an irregular curve, the displacement being greatest at the bridge, where it crosses the Stono River. Here, it was as much as 37 inches to the south. After Rantowles Station (18 miles), there were many displacements, both lateral and vertical. At 18-1/2 miles, a long southward deflection began, the amount of which reached 25 inches at the 19-mile point, 50 inches half-a-mile farther on, and was still greater at 20-2/3 miles.

For two miles more, sinuous flexures were continuous, but, at the 22-2/3-mile point, they rapidly disappeared, the railroad pa.s.sing on to higher and firmer ground. Between 25 and 27 miles, there were occasional slight flexures in the line or depressions of the railroad; but, after the 27-1/4-mile point, they seldom occur, and, when they do, are of little consequence.

Some of the effects described in the last paragraph may, as Major Dutton suggests, be due to the varying nature of the surface-rocks. It is important to notice, however, that disturbances of the lines were exceedingly rare in the section that lies nearest to the Woodstock epicentre, and that they increase in violence for some distance from that region, the maximum intensity being reached a mile or two to the west of Rantowles Station. This points clearly to the existence of a second focus. Unfortunately, there are very few houses or other objects in the neighbourhood, and the position of the corresponding epicentre cannot be determined accurately. Major Dutton places it in the position indicated by a small circle (R), and calls it the Rantowles epicentre from its vicinity to the station of that name.

If the meizoseismal area had been a thickly populated one, the evidence of ruined and damaged houses would have provided materials for the construction of isoseismal lines surrounding the two epicentres. It is difficult, as it is, to gauge the equality of the effects on objects so different as railway-lines and buildings; and the isoseismals shown in Figs. 28 and 29 can therefore lay no claim to accuracy.

Fig. 28 shows the epicentral isoseismals as they are drawn by Mr.

Earle Sloan. They do not correspond to the degrees of any definite scale of seismic intensity; but they may be taken as representing the impressions of a very careful observer, who traversed the district immediately after the occurrence of the earthquake, and who, when drawing these lines, was bia.s.sed by no preconceived theory.

Major Dutton, relying chiefly on Mr. Sloan's written notes, interprets the evidence differently, and obtains the series of curves shown in Fig. 29. In this case, also, the isoseismals correspond to no expressed standard of intensity. They are intended merely to represent the forms of the curves, and, by their less or greater distance apart, the more or less rapid rate at which the intensity varied.

The chief difference between the two maps concerns the form of the Woodstock isoseismals. Major Dutton draws them approximately circular, leaving the map blank towards the north, where hardly any evidence was forthcoming. Mr. Sloan attributes the scantiness of effects here to a diminution of intensity, and makes the lines curve in towards the epicentre. They certainly must do so in crossing the North-Eastern Railway; and the somewhat southerly trend of Mr. Sloan's curves to the east of this railway seems to me to furnish the better representation of the distinctly greater intensity in that region.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 28.--Epicentral isoseismal lines of Charleston earthquake according to Mr. Sloan. (_Dutton._)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 29.--Epicentral isoseismal lines of Charleston earthquake according to Major Dutton. (_Dutton._)]

More important, however, than this divergence of opinion is the agreement in one respect between the two sets of curves. Both show a marked expansion around the points known as the Woodstock and Rantowles epicentres, especially about the former, and a contraction in the intermediate region. The evidence of these isoseismals therefore confirms that of the damaged railway lines, and establishes Major Dutton's inference that there were two distinct foci, the epicentres of which were about thirteen miles apart.

ORIGIN OF THE DOUBLE SHOCK.

In the last chapter, it was shown that the double shock of the Andalusian earthquake could be due only to two distinct impulses taking place either within the same focus or, more probably, in two detached foci. Similar reasoning applies to the Charleston earthquake.

The double maximum or double shock was observed in no less than fourteen States. Moreover, the interval between the two maxima at Charleston appears from Fig. 26 to have been about 34 seconds in length. Thus, the duplication of the shock cannot have been a merely local phenomenon, nor can it have resulted from the separation into two parts of the earth-waves proceeding from a single disturbance.

Each maximum must therefore be connected with a distinct impulse.

Combining this inference with Major Dutton's discovery of the double focus, no doubt can remain as to the origin of the repeated shock. It is clear, also, that the impulse at the Woodstock focus was the stronger of the two; for the isoseismals spread out more widely round the corresponding epicentre, and there was no rapid decline of intensity from that point, such as might be a.s.sociated with a weaker disturbance within a shallow focus.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 30.--Planes of oscillation of stopped pendulum clocks at Charleston.]

Again, since the earlier part of the shock is almost uniformly described as the stronger, it follows that the Woodstock focus was the first in action. A curious fact recorded by Major Dutton supports this inference. In Charleston, four clocks were stopped by the shock, the errors of which at the time were certainly less than eight or nine seconds. The planes in which their pendulums oscillated are shown by the lines lettered A, B, C, and D in Fig. 30, the broken lines W and R representing respectively the directions from Charleston of the Woodstock and Rantowles epicentres. Clock A stopped at 9h. 51m. 0s., B at 9h. 51m. 15s., C at 9h. 51m. 16s., and D (which had been reset to the second earlier in the day) at 9h. 51m. 48s. Now, if the plane of oscillation coincided nearly with the direction of the shock, the only effect would be a temporary change in the period of oscillation; but if it was at right angles to the direction of the shock, the clock might be stopped by the point of the pendulum catching behind the graduated arc in front of which it oscillated. The planes of the first three clocks, it will be seen, were approximately at right angles to the direction of the Woodstock epicentre, and B and C were indeed stopped in the manner just described; while the plane of shock D was nearly perpendicular to the direction of the Rantowles epicentre. As the pendulums of B and C might make a few staggering oscillations before their final arrest, Major Dutton a.s.signs 9h. 51m. 12s. as the epoch of the first maximum at Charleston; and, as the interval between the two maxima was about 34 seconds, this would give about 9h. 51m.

46s. for the epoch of the second maximum--a time which agrees very closely with that given by clock D. Thus, clocks A, B, and C must have been stopped by the Woodstock vibrations, and clock D about half-a-minute later by those coming from the Rantowles focus.

DEPTH OF THE SEISMIC FOCI.

Two methods of estimating the depth of the seismic focus have been described in the preceding pages--namely, Mallet's, depending on the angle of emergence, and Falb's, based on the interval between the initial epochs of the sound and shock. To these, Major Dutton adds a third method, in which he relies on the rate at which the intensity of the shock varies with the distance from the epicentre.

_Dutton's Method of determining the Depth of the Focus._--If the seismic focus is either a point or a sphere, and the initial impulse equal in all directions, and if the intensity of the shock diminishes inversely as the square of the distance from the focus, then the continuous curve in Fig. 31 will represent the variation of intensity along a line pa.s.sing through the epicentre E. The form of the curve on these a.s.sumptions does not depend in any way on the initial intensity of the impulse; it is governed solely by the depth of the focus. The deeper the focus, the flatter becomes the curve, as we have seen in discussing the Ischian earthquakes (p. 68). In all directions from the epicentre, the intensity at first diminishes slowly; but the rate of change of intensity with the distance soon becomes more rapid, until it is a maximum at the points C, C; after which it again diminishes and dies out very slowly when the distance becomes great. It will be evident from Fig. 18 that the deeper the focus the greater also is the distance EC of the points where the intensity of the shock changes most rapidly. It may be easily shown, indeed, that this distance always bears to the depth of the focus the constant ratio of 1 to sqrt(3), or about 1 to 1.73.[42]

Now, if a series of isoseismals could be drawn corresponding to intensities which differ by constant amounts, we should have a series of circles like those surrounding the Woodstock epicentre in Fig. 29, the distance between successive lines at first decreasing gradually until it is a minimum at the dotted circle and afterwards gradually increasing. This dotted circle is obviously that which pa.s.ses through all points where the intensity of the shock changes most rapidly.

Major Dutton calls it the _index-circle_ and, when its radius is known, the depth of the focus is at once obtained by multiplying the radius by 1.73.

In 1858, Mallet proposed a method which bears some resemblance to the above,[43] but depending only on the intensity of the longitudinal waves. Major Dutton claims for his method that the effects of the longitudinal and transverse waves are not separated, that it takes account of the "total energy irrespective of direction or kind of vibration."

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 31.--Diagram to ill.u.s.trate Dutton's method of determining depth of seismic focus.]

_Objections to Dutton's Method._--I have described this method somewhat fully, though it seems to me open to more serious objections than Mallet's first method which it is intended to replace.

We have, in the first place, no reason for supposing that the focus is either a point or a sphere, or that the initial impulse is uniform in all directions. If the earthquake were caused by fault-slipping, both a.s.sumptions would be untrue, and it is for those who employ the method to prove their validity.

But of greater consequence is the fact that, if the method were correct, all earthquakes originating at the same depth must have index-circles of equal radii. If the depth of the focus were, say, ten miles, then the index-circle must have a radius of about six miles, whether the initial disturbance be of extreme violence or so weak that it is not felt at the surface at all, much less so far as six miles from the epicentre. The law of the inverse square is of course only true for a perfectly elastic and continuous medium, and the real curve of intensity is not that of the continuous line in Fig. 31, but something of the form represented by the dotted line. In this case, the rate of change of intensity is greatest at some point C', nearer than C to the epicentre, and the application of Major Dutton's rule would give a point F', nearer the surface than F, for the focus. Thus, a.s.suming that the method can be applied in practice--and the test involved is one so delicate that it would be difficult to apply except with refined measurements--then all that we can a.s.sert is that the calculated depth is certainly less than the true depth.

_Dutton's Estimate of the Depth of the Seismic Foci._--In applying the method, the chief difficulty is to obtain a series of isoseismal lines corresponding to equidistant degrees of intensity. As already pointed out, those given in Fig. 29 are merely diagrammatic; but the index-circle of the Woodstock focus, represented by the dotted line, is made to pa.s.s through the places where the rate of change of intensity was found to be greatest. The radius of this circle being very nearly seven miles, it follows that the resulting depth of the Woodstock focal point would be about twelve miles. Major Dutton regards this estimate as probably correct within two miles.

In the neighbourhood of the Rantowles epicentre, the isoseismals in both Figs. 28 and 29 are elongated in form. The _index-circuit_, as it would be called in such a case, cannot be drawn completely, but its radius parallel to the shorter axis of the curves is about 4-1/2 miles, and the resulting depth of the Rantowles focal point would be nearly eight miles.

VELOCITY OF THE EARTH-WAVES.

The recognition of the double epicentre is, from a geological point of view, the most important fact established by the investigation of the Charleston earthquake. But of equal interest, from a physical point of view, is the estimate of the velocity of the earth-waves, which is probably more accurate than that determined for any previous shock.

Owing to the existence of the standard time system in the United States, the exact time is transmitted once a day to every town and village within reach of a telegraph line; and the effect of small errors in the observations is considerably lessened by the great distance traversed by the earth-waves, sixty good reports coming from places more than 500 miles from the epicentre, and ten from places more than 800 miles distant.

The total number of time-records collected is 316, but of these 130 had to be rejected, either because they were obviously too early or too late, or because they were only given to the nearest five-minutes' interval. There remain 186 observations which are divided by Major Dutton into four cla.s.ses according to their probable value.

In an earthquake of such great duration (about 70 seconds at Charleston), it is necessary in the first place to select some special phase of the movement as that to which the records mainly refer, and then to determine as accurately as possible the time of occurrence of this phase at the origin.

There can be little doubt as to which phase should be chosen. The shock began with a series of tremors, which pa.s.sed somewhat abruptly into the oscillations that formed the first and stronger maximum.

These were clearly felt all over the disturbed area, and, as the beginning of the first maximum at places near the epicentre and the beginning of the shock at distant stations were probably due to the same vibrations, this particular phase may be fairly selected as that to which the time-measurements refer.

The time of this phase at the origin can only be ascertained from the time at which it reached Charleston, and our knowledge of this depends chiefly on the evidence of stopped clocks. How unreliable this may be is well known. Clocks may indeed be stopped at almost any phase of the movement; and, whenever stopped clocks can be compared with really good personal observations, they almost invariably show a later time.

At Charleston three good clocks were stopped by the vibrations from the Woodstock focus, two of them being in close agreement (p. 121); and, allowing for a few oscillations before their final arrest, Major Dutton places the time of arrival of the selected phase at Charleston at 9h. 51m. 12s. P.M. The evidence of these clocks is also supported by that of other observations, which show that 9.51 was certainly the nearest minute to the time of arrival, and favour a somewhat later instant much more strongly than one a little earlier.

Now, the distance of Charleston from the Woodstock epicentre is sixteen miles, and from the corresponding focus (with the calculated value of its depth) twenty miles. A first estimate of the velocity gives a value of a little more than three miles a second, and the time at the Woodstock focus may therefore be taken as 9h. 51m. 6s. with a probable error of a few seconds.[44]

Proceeding to the observations at a distance, we find them, even after all rejections, to be very different in value. They were therefore divided into groups consisting of observations which are as nearly as possible h.o.m.ogeneous.

The first group contains five records from places between 452 and 645 miles from the Woodstock epicentre. They give the time to within 15 seconds, obtained from an accurately kept clock, or from a clock or watch that was compared with such within a few hours of the earthquake. The resulting velocity is 3.236 plus or minus .105 miles (or 5205 plus or minus 168 meters) per second.[45]

In the second group there are eleven observations (between distances of 438 and 770 miles) which satisfy the same conditions as those in the first group, except that the time is only given to the nearest minute or half-minute. The velocity obtained from them is 3.226 plus or minus .147 miles (or 5192 plus or minus 236 metres) per second.

The third group included all but the above records and those obtained from stopped clocks. They are 125 in number (between distances of 80 and 924 miles), but it is uncertain whether they correspond to the selected phase of the movement, and the errors of the clocks and watches used were unknown. They give a mean velocity of 3.013 plus or minus .027 miles (or 4848 plus or minus 43 metres) per second.

In the fourth group, we have the evidence of 45 stopped clocks (at places between 20 and 855 miles), which apparently give a velocity of 2.638 plus or minus .105 miles (or 4245 plus or minus .168 metres) per second. At six places, however, the times indicated by stopped clocks can be compared with good personal observations; and these show that the time of traverse from the origin obtained from the former is on an average 1.28 times the time of traverse obtained from the latter. If a similar correction be made for all the stopped clocks, the corrected velocity of the earth-waves would be from 3.17 to 3.23 miles (or 5100 to 5200 metres) per second.