Abstract
IN the notes already published relating to the disasters which so recently overwhelmed Martinique and St. Vincent, reference has twice been made to the possible connection between seismic efforts and displays of volcanic activity. In connection with this, it has been suggested that had the sudden movements which on April 19 shattered cities in Guatemala been postponed, Mont Pelée and La Soufrière might still have been quiescent. By this it is not intended to convey the idea that if we take earthquakes generally and compare the registers of the same with the registers of volcanic eruptions we shall recognise any direct connection between the two. In Japan there are annually at least 1000 distinct earth shakings, but years may pass without the record of a volcanic eruption. Mount Fuji in that country has remained quiescent for the last 195 years, during which period it has been shaken at least 15,000 times, but in spite of this repeated aggravation the mons excelsus et singularis of Dai Nippon still watches peacefully over thirteen provinces round its base. Like many other mountains in the world, if we may rely upon the records of its past history, it is yet engaged in raising steam, and when by this process the volcanic strain has sufficiently increased, some unusually large relief in seismic strain—even at a distance—may be the ultimate cause of a renewal of its activity. Volcanoes, like mines, require to be charged before they can be exploded, and the final cause of such explosions seems at times to be connected with bodily movements of their foundations, which movements may originate locally or be the propter hoc of corresponding disturbances originating at a distance. The shiverings which constitute local earthquakes, which are so frequent throughout the world, play but little part in these violent awakenings, and the giants sleep whilst humanity may be terrified.
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MILNE, J. Volcanic Eruptions in the West Indies . Nature 66, 151–153 (1902). https://doi.org/10.1038/066151e0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/066151e0