UNENVIABLE RECORD

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 56, 4 September 1923, Page 7

UNENVIABLE RECORD

JAPAN AND EARTHQUAKES.

Of all the countries in the world, Japan is probably the most subject to earthquakes, and the record of--"disas-ters is a long one, sharing unenviable pre-eminence with Italy and the Pacific Coast of America from San Francisco down beyond Valparaiso (Chile).' In regard to the marked displays of seismic violence in Japan, one steadily exercised influence is constantly \at work, for the shores bordering the Pacific Ocean arc-slowly though appreciably rising; while on the side of the Japan Sea a corresponding subsidence is taking place. Japan also experiences a vast number of petty vibrations not perceptible without the aid of delicate instruments. But of earthquakes proper, large and small, she has an exceptional abundance. Thus in the thirteen years ending in 1897—the first period when really scientific apparatus for recording purposes was first available—she was visited by no fewer than 17,750 shocks, being an average of over three daily. The anomalies of Japan show that during the three centuries before 1897 there were 108 earthquakes sufficiently disastrous to merit historical mention. The story may be gathered from the following list:—

The Pacific coast of Japan is more liable to shocks than the western side of the islands. Apparent proof has been obtained that the shocks occurring in the_ Pacific districts, including the Tokio region, originate at the bottom of the sea in the Tuscarora Deep, where soundings have shown 4655 fathoms, the deepest sea-bed in the_ world.' This submarine region is supposed to be a' colosr sal crater. Earthquakes in Japan are very frequently accompanied by tidal waves, as appears to have been the case in the present disaster. The region swept by the disaster is the real .heart of Japan, the fertile plain round Tokio, •and^the .densely-populated area extending northward "to Sendai'an'd' southward to Osaka. The population probably exceeds 10,000,000, and the size of some of I the cities indicated in the messages from the sceno 'may' be judged from tho following statistics of population :—Tokio, 2,173,201;- Osaka 1,252,983; Yokohama, 422,938: Sandai 118,984; Yokosuka, 89,879.

Date. Region. 1662 ... Kioto KiGG ... Ectilgo 1004 ..> TJgo 1705 ... Tokio 1707 ... Kuiahui 1751 ... Echigo 1706 .... Hirosakl 1792 ... Hizen 1823 .... Eclligo 1544 ... Eclligo 1851 ... Yamato 1854 ... Tokaido 1855 ... Yedo 1801 ... Mino 1594 ... Shonai 1890 ... Sauriku ISOG ... Vgo 1906 ... Formosa Hon6es Destroyed. 6,500 2,700 20,1i>2 ' •' 29,000 9,100 7,500 12,000 11,750 34,000 5,000 (50,000 50,000 222,501 8,403 13,073 8,096 5,550 Deaths. 600 1,500 800 6,233 4,900 1,700 1,335 15,000 . 1,443 12,000 2,400 3,000 6,700 7,273 726 27,122 209 1,228