EARTHQUAKES 
253 
foundations had been weakened by drainage when the 
water was withdrawn from its front during the advance of 
the earthquake wave, and it slid down the mud slope into 
the river. The Lisbon Earthquake was recorded in France 
only in the extreme S.W.; but it has been assigned an un- 
usually wide range as a shock in Derbyshire has been attri- 
buted to it, but was doubtless due to an independent local 
sarthquake. 
Along earthquake stricken coasts most of the destruction 
is often wrought by a huge wave which rolls in from the sea. 
Harbours and coast towns in seismic belts are only safe if 
sheltered from the open sea, or above the reach of earthquake 
waves. 
Some strongly constructed buildings collapsed during the 
San Francisco Earthquake in 1906, as they were erected on 
land made by filling bays with loose material, and the weak 
foundations had given trouble before the earthquake. 
Similar buildings on firm ground were only shaken, though 
some were destroyed by fire. 
The most fatal earthquake for which there are accurate 
records was at Tokyo on the 1st September, 1923; the official 
roll of killed and missing is 142,807. The shock there was 
moderate; well-built masonry buildings and even fragile 
structures on their roofs were not injured. The loss of life 
was due to the earthquake happening just before the midday 
meal; the charcoal braziers used for cooking were over- 
thrown ; fallen laths and scraps of wallpaper were ignited ; 
and many fires broke out simultaneously. The people 
flocked for shelter into open spaces where they were suffo- 
cated by smoke. The damage at Tokyo was estimated at 
£1,000,000,000, of which 95 per cent. was due to fire. 
B. Anti-EarTHQUARE ConsTRUCTION—No ordinary build- 
ing can resist the most violent grade of earthquake without 
serious damage. In the Assam Earthquake of 1896 Shillong 
was jerked 18 inches to and fro 200 times a minute. Walls 
were shaken to pieces and the roofs settled down over piles 
of broken masonry. Tree trunks were snapped across just 
above the ground. This terrific oscillation was combined 
with an upward jerk by which huge stones were hurled into 
the air, at an angle of over 60°; after rising 4 feet they 
struck the ground 6% feet from their original position,