THE LATE EARTHQUAKE ON LAND AND SEA.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 99, 7 September 1868, Page 3

THE LATE EARTHQUAKE ON LAND AND SEA.

Tbe Otago Daily Times of Sept. 1, appears to have collected the main fact 3in connection with the late phenomena with considerable precision. It is hardly right, however to speak of a "' tidal wave," though we confess to having fallen into the same error ourselves : — We now know that this disturbance of the ocean, the result of some volcanic action, extended simultaneously over a large portion of these seas. On the morning of Saturday, the 15th inst, while the tidal wave alarmed the inhabitants of New Zealand and the Chatham Islands, it equally alarmed the residents of Sydney and Newcastle, Adelaide and llobart Town. It is singular enough that the port of Melbourne was not visiied by these most extraordinary phenomena. On no part of the Victorian coast did they make their appearance. Nor were they observed at any point north of Newcastle. Probably, however, we may hear some further details on the subject as vessels arrive from timo to time; for no doubt the tremendous uprising of the waters was observed at sea as well as on the coast, '''he accounts received from the Chatham Islands on Friday last forcibly remind us of the very similar occurrences at the island of St. Thomas, in the West Indies, some months since. When we como to hear tlie narrative from the rcidents on the Chathams — when they describe the appearance of the groat breakers suddenly rising up before them and pouring in upon their settlements, spreading destruction on all side3 — we shall recognise the counterpart of the scene witnessed at St. Thomas. The next volcanic disturbance we heard of wai nt Hawaii. This was on the 28th of March. The tidal wave was assisted in the wreck of destruction by the eruptions of the v.dcano; and both together created such havoc that the face of the country was altered beyond recognition. Wholevillage9weresweptawayby a wave which, at one place, rose to a height of forty feet ; while vast chasms suddenly appeared in the midst of cultivated fields. At various points in the i acific Ocean, volcanic action appear* to have taken place a) short intervals during the present year j not only in places where volcanic action might have beea expected, but in places least familiar with bucli unwelcome visitations. At San Francisco and Sacramento, for instance, we have lately heard that smart shocks of earthquake were felt on the 26th May and the 29th of June ; and the same papers which brought us this intelligence also" informed us of an earthquake felt at sea on the 1 8th of May. The brig Brewster, when in latitude 44.7 north and longitude 129.35 west, experienced a shock which •'■ so shook the vessel as to

throw the men oft their feet and the watch below out of their berths. 'I he doors of the galley were thrown from their side?, and the crockery in the pantry was broken." A noise like distant thunder preceded the shock. The impression made upon the crew was that the vessel had struck upon a rock, and all hands rushed to tha pumps to ascertain the fact. Again, on the 18th June last, shocks of earthquake were felt at various points in the city of Sydney, and more distinctly in several towns to the north, in the Hunter Uiver district. Earthquakes have never been felt in Sydney before; not, at least, within the memory of the present generation.