Democratic Sentinel, Volume 15, Number 52, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 January 1892 — Earthquakes in Japan. [ARTICLE]

Earthquakes in Japan.

During the nine years and six months preceding December, 1884, there had occurred in Japan, according to the official statement published by the government, 553 earthquakes, averaging one earthquake for every six days and six hours. Professor Milne was able to make the average even greater than this, according to a writer in the Illustrated American. He could trace an average of an earthquake per day in Nagasaki, in the extreme south of the Japanese Archipelago. Probably the official statistics were compiled from the returns of offieials from all over the country, in which case only those shocks which caused loss of life or damage to property would be included. If this hypothesis be correct, we should have an average of more than one earthquake per week, which was so violent that it caused injuries to life or property sufficiently serious to attract the attention of the local authorities, and, in their judgement, to require a report to the central government. Earthquakes being so common people scarcely notice them unless they he extraordinary severe ones. For instance, Miss Bird in her “Unbeaten Tracks” thus summarily dismisses two: “While we were crossing the court there were two shocks of earthquake; all the golden wind bells which fringe the roofs rang softly, and a number of priests ran into the temple and beat various kinds of drums for the space of half an hour.” As every one knows, Japan is the very hearth of earthquakes. In 1854 more than sixty thousand people lost their lives in consequence of one of these great terrestial catastrophes, and it has been calculated that from ten to twelve earthquakes, each lasting several seconds, occur every year, besides numerous others of too light a nature to be worthy of remark.