AN AUCKLAND PROFESSOR'S VIEWS.

Press, Volume LXII, Issue 12483, 20 April 1906, Page 8

AN AUCKLAND PROFESSOR'S VIEWS.

POSSIBILITY OF CONNECTION WITH VESUVIUS.

NEW ZEALAND'S POSITION. (SPECIAL TO ''THE PRESS.") AUCKLAND. April 19. Professor A. P. \\ . 'Uunn.i-*. ot the Auckland University College, afforded an interesting interview to a "Herald ,, reporter upon vie San Francisco unci CiUitomiaui earthquakes generally. Asked as to whether lu> could suggest a reason tor the lveent disaster, lro- Jtccoor 1 'nomas said that tins was tiue •to the same cau.-*> as previous earthquakes. The greatest authority on .>nicnciUi earthquakes staUd that tho lalitorman eartnquakes appeared to bo >eetoinc, or, in woras, on tho changes in the striictiuxi 01 tho earths crust. Most impjnniii. earthqnakes worn due to oiki ot two catis<«. '1112 first of these was tho shrinkage ot tho interior ot tlio glooe, and tno rearrangement o> tlio cni?t. 'Ijus led to tho sinking inwards cf large iwrtioiis of tne eartlLs cni.vt and also the raising cl mountain ranges. Hentv it was tnat mountain ranges were very irequently visited by earuiquake-s. 'lho second cause to whu-h eartnquakos were due was, ot course, vclcanio explcisioiio. Such earthquakes, as a clats, vero Uiw severe m tiieir character. "From tho intorniation to hand, to which cause would you say the earthquake was due," as Kid the reporter. "Judging ironi past experience,'' replied tna I'rofessor, "it- i» due to tho lonner cause.. \ou have a coastal rango in California, trouting the sea, and btJiind that tho great rango cf tho Sierra Nevadas, rising in a i»t-c.'p slopo to a score, of peaks to ever 14,000 feet high. It is jiur. Mich coumnos wi'..h steep slopes aad great yariaitione of contour that are most visited by earthquakes. The whob of the Western Pacitic is bordered by mountain chains of the same general structure. In South America tho chain of the Andes is ns subject to earthquakes as aaiy p.irt cf the wOild. The North American coast is not so strongly characterised by earthquakes, nevertheless, the general structure of the coast is tho same. In the Calif ornian group wo have a recognised, seismic region. Tfio Calif orniaax earthquakes have heeji numerous but not, as a rule, of high, intensity. . \ "Dunns tho century just closed, ten fairly severe earthquakes were recorded. On" ot maximum intensity, and tne most powerful recorded in the American Pacific States. This is known as the Owens Valley quake, it happened on March 27th, 18(2. Immense masses of reck wejxj precipitated from tho ranges, and the after shocks continued for tour cr five years. San Francisco itself has been m"uch visited by minor eartnquakee. In the thirty-six years ending .1886, 254 were recorded in Sihi Frana cisco, and 514 others. Many of the 1 earthquakes in California, though of low intensity, have been i'?lt over wide areas, showing that the cause lay deep. The intensity of the forces causing an earthquake is best shown by the extent of territory shaken. Tho subterranean forces in operation beneath tho Calitornian State are so great as to bo perfectly competent to produce the disaster now recorded. "We are apt to measure tho intensity cf an earthquake by tho amount of damagp done to property and.|ho less of Jmniiin life, but these events naturally vary according to ; where tho oentre rs situated, whether beneath some populous region or in relatively uninhabited country." "Where would you say tho centre of the earthquake was situated?" asked the Pressman. "So far as the cables go, there does not appear to have been any great sea wave, from which wo infer that the centre of the- earthquake was not below the sea, as in the case of tho Lisbon earthquake, when 60,000 lives wore lost. but inland; but one would think, not far inland, from tho severity of tho shock." "Can the catastrophe be connected with tho Vesuvius eruption?" was the next question. "It would be difficult to state positively that tho two are connected, but evidence is accumulating to show- that there are periods of greater seismic and volcanic activity. It is possible that we aro now entering such a period of seismic activity." "Thore is no doubt," said the Professor in conclusion, in reply to a question as to whether it was likely that New Zealand would bo "that the surface, of the globe can be mapped out in regions which are structurally united. The basin of the- Pacific is one such region, and it is „passible for disturbances to spread round the basin upon which New Zealand lies on the opposite side. If it belongs in that .sense to the same region, tho activity might be felt in other parts. At tho same time, it remains to l>e seen whether the action will not bo confined to tho California!! States."