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Slight Earthquake Shock Felt Here Late Saturday Afternoon
Two earthquake shocks were felt in this city Saturday afternoon, the first lasting only three seconds and the second two minutes later, lasting about the same time. The seismic motion was from west to east, slightly bearing to the north. Only one shock was noticed in the northern part of the city, it was evidenced in the "News" Annex building, particularly on the Seventh floor which is given up to job printing work. The fixtures and equipment there shook and swayed so for the brief time it lasted that there was a general alarm for the safety of the building. But the shock passed off so quickly that the employees there recovered as quickly from their alarm, and its nature was quickly recognized. On the eighth floor there was more than the usual tremor noticed but that was all. On the sixth floor, the book bindery, the piles of stationery disturbed slightly, and some of the girls were alarmed and started for the elevator, but the cause for the fright quickly vanished.
The weather office is in the Dooly building, and a clock on the west wall of the office stopped at 3:26 p.m. On the north wall is another clock which did not stop at all. Then standing water was noticed to ripple from west to east. The shock was distinctly felt in other offices in the building, where bookcases and pictures swayed and people were seized with dizziness. The same experiences obtained in the McCornick and Commercial block buildings. Elevator boys complained of feeling dizzy as their cages shook so. But no injury was sustained in any quarter, and no buildings were more than temporarily affected.
[Deseret Evening News; November 13, 1905]
The very slight earthquake shock that was noticed in this city last Saturday, reminds us that the French scientist, Abbe Moreau, a short time ago, made the prediction that we are nearing a period of seismic disturbances. He expressed the view that "as the solar activity will slowly diminish, it is highly probable that earthquakes will occur," and he set the time for March or April, next. As Abbe Moreau predicted the earthquakes which a few months ago devastated parts of India and which, he held, were due to sun spots, his prognostications are read with considerable interest.
According to this scientist, there is unmistakable connection between solar activity and earthquakes, as well as volcanic eruptions. The fact is, he claims, that the awakening of the internal forces of the globe coincides with sudden changes in the curve of spots on the sun. He adds:
"Earthquakes, and especially volcanic action, are localized on the lines of fracture of the globe, and particularly at the intersection of these lines--(A) the west coast of the two Americas; (B) the line including the volcanic districts of eastern Asia; (C) the South Sea Islands and Australasia, and, finally, (D) the depression of the Mediterranean cutting the three first lines of fracture almost at right angles."
How to account for these facts, is the question. M. Moreau suggests that the sun acts on the crust of the earth either by causing its potential electricity to vary or by modifying the heat sent to the earth. For both, he says, there would be a dilation or shrinking of the envelope.
[Deseret Evening News; November 16, 1905]
Earthquake Shock Of Sufficient Force To Stop Clocks
Special Correspondence.
Snowville, Boxelder Co., Nov. 12--An earthquake tremor was felt here yesterday about 4 o'clock p.m., running from west to east. Its duration was about two or three seconds. It shook the dishes in the cupboard and stopped clocks in places, but no damage was done.
[Deseret Evening News; November 16, 1905]
Phenomenon Marked by Quivering of Buildings and Swaying of the Furniture--Observed by Occupants of the Top Floors of the Federal and Sonna Buildings--Two "Shocks" a Quarter of a Minute Apart Felt in Sonna Block, Furniture Moving Three or Four Inches--First Earthquake in Boise for Nearly 30 Years
A slight earthquake shock was felt in Boise yesterday afternoon about 3:30 o'clock, the occupants of the stories of the higher buildings of the city feeling it distinctly, while those who were upon the ground or who were busily engaged higher up did not notice it at all. Some of those who felt the shock, or quiver of the earth, say there were two movements, perhaps a quarter of a minute apart. The shaking was not of sufficient intensity to do even the slightest damage.
The quivering of the buildings in the city seemed to be in the general direction from east to west, with a slight variation to the north, being almost parallel with the streets in the old townsite. So far as known only those who were seated at their desks facing in this direction, permitting them to be swayed backward and forward with the movement of the building in which they were located, noticed the quivering of Mother Earth and the shaking of the furniture.
Observer Wells of the United States weather bureau noticed but one shock, and it was so slight that he thought he had been mistaken. He paid little attention to it until one of the employees of the surveyor general's office, which, like the weather bureau, is situated on the fourth floor of the government building, came in to inquire about the phenomenon. He then realized there had been a slight earthquake shock, and that he had not been deceived by some slight shaking of the office furniture.
On the upper floor of the Sonna building, also, the quivering of the building was noticed. J. T. Pence, the attorney, was seated at his desk writing at the moment, when the desk suddenly seemed to sway in front of him. Upon looking up his eye caught a swaying overcoat hanging by a window, which, however, was closed, with no air current around it. A sectional bookcase full of books was noticed by him to sway fully three or four inches, as did also a hanging electric light globe.
Former Governor Morrison, in an adjoining room, noticed the same swaying of the furniture, and went into Mr. Pence's room to compare notes. After his arrival there, both noticed a second, and slighter, movement of the furniture the same as before.
The focus of the earthquake, judging from the extreme lightness of the quivering here, probably lay hundreds of miles away.
Old-timers say this is the second shaking of the earth's crust in Boise since there was such a place. The first one occurred about 4 o'clock one afternoon early in the winter of 1876 or 1877.
[Idaho Daily Statesman; November 12, 1905]
Not only was the earthquake felt in Boise, but it extended to a considerable distance to the east and southeast, as far as Salt Lake, perhaps farther. Indeed, the shock was more severe to the east, some damage being done at Shoshone and other places. This would indicate that Boise was on the edge of the affected belt, thus confirming the deduction drawn from the fact that the shock was very light here.
A peculiar feature of the wave lay in the fact that it would be felt at one town and not at another close by. Although felt distinctly at Glenns Ferry, it did not affect Mountainhome. It passed Pocatello by with no manifestation, but was felt in Salt Lake.
This is supposed to be due from the character of the formation, it being a well known fact that an earthquake is not felt, even though severe on both sides, at a place where the formation is loose, as above a thick stratum of gravel, and is more pronounced close to rock formations.
Two Distinct Quakes,
Dishes Being Knocked from Shelves
There were two distinct shocks, the first one somewhat longer than the second, which followed immediately after. The court house and school house, both being brick buildings, were slightly damaged and the plaster on almost every plastered house in town was more or less injured.
Earthquake Reached Glenns Ferry
at 3:45 in Afternoon
No Damage Done, Shock Not Being
Severe Enough to Break Glass
[Idaho Daily Statesman; November 12, 1905]
Disturbance Felt At 3:30 This Afternoon
People Ran Out of Several Buildings--Salt Lake Also Shaken
The shock started all of the bells in the telephone office of the Independent Telephone company.
At the fire station all of the chandeliers were started swinging and many of the firemen, who were up stairs at the time, made a hasty retreat down the poles.
No damage has yet been reported as a result.
The shock was also felt in Salt Lake City where all of the larger buildings were swayed.
[Ogden Standard; November 11, 1905]
Three Seconds Of Vibration Cause Great Excitement In City
Feelings Alone Damaged
Seismic Disturbance Causes Rush From Buildings
A perfectly behaved, mild-mannered little earthquake visited Salt Lake City yesterday afternoon, arriving about 3:26 o'clock and leaving three seconds later; mild-mannered and gentle enough and yet sufficient to send men and women pell-mell out of business blocks, scrambling from imagined dangers; well-behaved and with apparently no sinister motives, and yet enough to make thousands in the city feel "queer" for many minutes after the tremor.
As to actual damage none was done. As to wreck of personal happiness and peace of mind, the damage cannot be estimated.
Many who experienced yesterday's shock are convinced that it lasted at least half a minute. Some won't admit less than a minute. As a matter of fact, the sensation of vibration depends on elevation. That is, occupants of tall buildings, like the Dooly, may have noticed a swaying movement long after the actual shock had passed. On the other hand, a three second shock would not seem much longer than ten or fifteen seconds to a person on the ground, the additional time being added for over-wrought nerves when one is brought face to face with a hitherto unencountered natural phenomenon.
The motion was from west to east, with a slight bearing toward the north. There were two distinct waves, succeeding each other by a fraction of a second. Here again there will be dispute, as some will maintain the time between "must" have been at least a quarter of a minute.
At any rate these men, perfectly rational on ordinary occasions, because possessed with the idea that if they were not to be swallowed up with the Dooly block and be cast far, far down into some internal cavern, they would better make a dash for safety.
They did, and caught the elevator boy at the fifth floor. Led by B. F. Caffey, A. H. and E. L. Godbe and John H. Horlick, all of whom have offices high up in the Dooly Block, the dozen or more excited men jammed themselves into the elevator cage, and, while their teeth chattered and their knees knocked together, were swiftly conveyed to the bottom floor. Once on the ground floor, and with safety but a few yards off, they whirled through the revolving doors and ran, step by step, past the threshold, then the rubber door mat, then the hempen door mat, past the boot-black stand, and--Saved!
They jumped into the middle of the street in order to avoid the falling bricks, and then for the first time looked upward. Would she never tumble? Ah! The delusion of earthquakes giving tall buildings their final quietus was a delusion after all.
At the Weather Bureau
Nor was the clock the only witness. Dr. R. J. Hyatt, weather forecaster, and his assistants, were there. When the shock came, or began to come, a note was made of it.
"Make a note of it," said the weather regulator. Then the clock weight left the narrow path.
"Make a note of it," came the firm but gentle command. Then the clock stopped.
"Make a note of it," came the voice insistently. Then the quake stopped.
"Make a note of it and stand ready to answer telephone calls," was the final order.
And the telephone calls came. To one woman, who wanted to know how great the swaying motion was, it was suggested that she look at the syrup jar and see where the sticky mixture had left it mark.
"But," she replied, "I haven't got a jar."
"Oh, come, come, everybody got a jar!" floated back the office boy's answer in the well-known facetious, office-boy manner.
On the street, too, the shock was observed by many. Several, in discussing the tremble, said it produced a nauseating sensation. With many this feeling of nausea continued long after the shock had gone.
"Worst shaking-up since election," remarked Harry Joseph after the thing was over.
Many, knowing how thoroughly Mr. Joseph was "shaken down" Nov. 7, wondered that he could still laugh at another phenomenon.
Patrolman Barlow and others stated that they heard a report like a blast explosion about the time the shock was noticed. As, however, earthquakes are not accompanied by any distinct explosive sound, but rather by a harsh, grumbling noise, either those who heard the explosion were mistaken and "didn't hear it" or they confounded an explosion with the earthquake.
[Salt Lake Herald; November 12, 1905]
An earthquake shock was distinctly felt in Ogden yesterday afternoon about 4 o'clock. The shock rocked the larger buildings of the city, but no damage resulted. It was the heaviest shock that has ever been felt in Ogden. Chandeliers were rocked to and fro, and in some instances stoves and furniture were nearly overturned. Many persons ran from the office buildings, not knowing what the trouble was and fearing that the buildings were about to fall in.
[Salt Lake Herald; November 12, 1905]
Salt Lake City got a slight jolt Saturday. It only lasted a few seconds, but then it was long enough to let people know it was not an election, but an earthquake. The clock in the office of the local weather bureau was stopped by the movement of the earth, thus declaring the time to be exactly 3:26 in the afternoon. In the Dooly building the earthquake was plainly felt. Housewives heard dishes rattle and loose tins announced the quivering motion of the earth's surface.
[Salt Lake Telegram; November 13, 1905]
Two Severe Shocks Experienced At 3:26 O'Clock Saturday Afternoon
Tall Buildings Were Swayed Like Cradle
People Alarmed, Rush From Offices Into Corridors; No Damage By Shocks
Salt Lake has experienced another earthquake, the third in the past ten years. The last, and which, by the way, was more generally felt than the other two which have visited the city in the past decade, occurred yesterday afternoon at twenty-six minutes past 3 o'clock. It was perceptible in every part of the city, but occupants of the high buildings, such as the Dooly, the McCornick and the Commercial block felt the shock much more severely than those who were on the ground or second floors.
Plaster Shaken From Ceilings by the Earthquake Shock
Hailey reports that the earthquake shock rattled bottles on shelves and was felt distinctly.
[Salt Lake Tribune; November 12, 1905]
People Rush Into Streets When Buildings Start To Rock
OGDEN, Nov. 11--At 3:25 this afternoon a seismic disturbance gave the inhabitants of Ogden a scare. Generally it was not noticeable, but in the taller buildings there was considerable agitation, and the structures leaned and swayed with a prospect of falling. In the Eccles building the Boyle and other tall structures the people rushed out of the buildings, expecting a catastrophe. So great was the disturbance, which lasted for about a minute, according to reports, that the telephone systems were thrown into disorder and the fire alarm system kept up a continual alarm. Reports from Five Points and North Ogden indicate that the shock was more severe in those sections than in Ogden.
[Salt Lake Tribune; November 12, 1905]
Return to Shoshone Earthquake Summary.
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