Earthquakes

"On the third day after the shock appointed a State Earthquake Investigation Commission, naming as its chairman the head of the geological department of the , , and including in its membership , of the , Professors and , of the State University, , of the , , of the , , of , and Mr. Gilbert, of the ."

"The steel railroad bridge across the , having five spans resting on concrete pillars, was directly on the line of the , crossing it obliquely. It affords a striking example of the power of the temblor. Here one side of the river bank moved away from the other eighteen inches. As a result the bridge was pulled apart at one end, the concrete abutment sliding away beneath the tremendously heavy plate girders which rested upon it, so far that the latter had little more than the edge to support them. Beyond, one of the massive concrete bases of the bridge spans—some fifteen feet through in either direction—was cracked from side to side and the truss resting on it shifted, and the whole bridge was twisted out of alignment."

"Why not quench the fire at its start with water? Alas! there was no water, and this expedient was a hopeless one. The s which carried the precious fluid under the city streets were broken or injured so that no quenching streams were to be had. In some cases the s had been so damaged that the fire-fighting apparatus could not be taken out, though even if it had it would have been useless. A sweeping conflagration and not an ounce of water to throw upon it!"

"A steam schooner was taking refugees from the water-front by means of a gang-plank of two rough boards. A mother with her baby in arms was stepping cautiously down when a burly Swede behind gave her an impatient push. She lost her balance and fell, drowning with her baby before help reached her. Without an instant's delay, a soldier shot the Swede dead in his tracks."

"The line of the fault of the earthquake which visited the California coast on April 18, 1906, extends from a point below , , in a northwesterly direction, touching the coast at on the western boundary of the , and thence follows the coast line to , a total distance of approximately 200 s. The area affected comprises a strip on both sides of the fault line averaging 30 miles in width, or about 10,000 s. Within this area all structures and public works were more or less damage, the injury varying from a few cracks in the plaster finish to total collapse and destruction. The effects of the earthquake were most violent in close proximity to the fault line and decreased in intensity in proportion with the distance from it. The city of San Francisco occupied a central position on the fault line and consequently felt the maximum effect."

"Our deepest condolences to HM King Mohammed VI and all Moroccans for the lives lost in the horrible earthquake in the Marrakesh region. I wish those injured a fast recovery. Ukraine stands in solidarity with Morocco during this tragic time."

"We stand by our Moroccan brothers with all our means in this difficult day."

"As a token of my solidarity with the people of Morocco affected by this tragedy, I have asked the Gaden Phodrang Foundation of the Dalai Lama to make a donation towards the rescue and relief efforts."

"[...] condolences to the government and people of Morocco, the families of the victims of this tragedy, as well as its wishes for a fast recovery for all those who were injured"

"I offer my condolences to my brother King Mohammed VI, and the victims of the earthquake. We are saddened by this incident, and we stand by our brothers and express our solidarity with them in these difficult times. May God protect Morocco."

"In this tragic hour, my thoughts are with the people of Morocco. May the injured recover at the earliest. India is ready to offer all possible assistance to Morocco in this difficult time."

"We are all devastated after the terrible earthquake in Morocco...France stands ready to help with first aid."

"I am shocked to learn that a strong earthquake has occurred in your distinguished country, causing great casualties and property damage. On behalf of the Chinese government and people, I would like to express my deep grief for the victims and sincere condolences to the families. I trust that, under the leadership of His Majesty the King, the Moroccan government and people will be able to overcome the impact of this disaster and rebuild their homeland at an early date"

"Last night's earthquake in Morocco leaves us deeply saddened and we offer our condolences to His Majesty the King, the victimized families and the entire Moroccan people, our neighbors. Portugal is supportive and available to support Morocco at this difficult time."

"I learnt with great sadness of the tragic consequences of the earthquake that hit the kingdom of Morocco, expressing sincere condolences to the king, the Moroccan people, and the families of the victims"

"All my solidarity with the people of Morocco in the face of the terrible earthquake … Spain stands with the victims of this tragedy and their families"

"Please accept my sincere condolences on the tragic consequences of the devastating earthquake in the central regions of your country. Russia shares the worry and sorrow of the friendly people of Morocco. Please convey words of sympathy and support to the families and friends of the victims, as well as wishes for a speedy recovery to all those who have suffered as a result of this natural disaster"

"Awful images are reaching us from Morocco. Together with the people of Morocco, we mourn the victims of the terrible earthquake. Our thoughts are with them and all those who are searching for those buried in these hours and fighting for the lives of the many injured"

"Solidarity with Morocco and our friends, the Moroccan people after the night’s terrible quake. Compassionate thoughts for the victims and their families and admiration for the work of rescue crews who relentlessly help the injured"

"I am deeply saddened by the loss of life and devastation caused by the earthquake in Morocco. Our thoughts and prayers are with all those impacted by this terrible hardship. My administration is in contact with Moroccan officials. We are working expeditiously to ensure American citizens in Morocco are safe, and stand ready to provide any necessary assistance for the Moroccan people. The United States stands by Morocco and my friend King Mohammed VI at this difficult moment."

"...expressed their full readiness to provide humanitarian assistance and provide all material and human resources as a sign of solidarity with the Moroccan people."

"Spain has offered Morocco, if it deems it necessary, both its rescue capacities, which in these moments are the most important, as well as its rebuilding capacity once this moment has passed. What is important right now is to save the greatest number of lives possible."

"Sometimes the roots of a tree may be firmer than the foundations of a house. When the floor starts shaking, wouldn’t it be safer to catch hold of the branch of a tree? The times are so difficult that you may find a branch more secure than the slabs that make up the floor... In the midst of earth tremors, the supple, living branch will not break; that is why you should focus on studying the nature of things. It is silly not to make use of what is growing right by the window. Only a madman needlessly uproots a plant that he himself is unable to cultivate."

"At half-past two o'clock of a moonlit morning in March, I was awakened by a tremendous earthquake, and though I hadn't ever before enjoyed a storm of this sort, the strange thrilling motion could not be mistaken, and I ran out of my cabin, both glad and frightened, shouting, "A noble earthquake! A noble earthquake" feeling sure I was going to learn something."

"The shocks were so violent and varied, and succeeded one another so closely, that I had to balance myself carefully in walking as if on the deck of a ship among waves, and it seemed impossible that the high cliffs of the Valley could escape being shattered. In particular, I feared that the sheer-fronted Sentinel Rock, towering above my cabin, would be shaken down, and I took shelter back of a large yellow pine, hoping that it might protect me from at least the smaller outbounding boulders."

"Just as the spectroscope opened up a new astronomy by enabling the astronomer to determine some of the constituents of which distant stars are composed, so the seismograph, recording the unfelt motion of distant earthquakes, enables us to see into the earth and determine its nature with as great a certainty, up to a certain point, as if we could drive a tunnel through it and take samples of the matter passed through."

"I don't know why God would allow an earthquake of this magnitude to affect an already impoverished country. But I do know that God will bring glory to Himself and help for His children through this disaster."

"That’s great, it starts with an earthquake, birds and snakes, an airplane — Lenny Bruce is not afraid. Eye of a hurricane, listen to yourself churn — world serves its own needs, dummy serve your own needs."

"As seismologists gained more experience from earthquake records, it became obvious that the problem could not be reduced to a single peak acceleration. In fact, a full frequency of vibrations occurs."

"The most remarkable feature about the magnitude scale was that it worked at all and that it could be extended on a worldwide basis. It was originally envisaged as a rather rough-and-ready procedure by which we could grade earthquakes. We would have been happy if we could have assigned just three categories, large, medium, and small; the point is, we wanted to avoid personal judgments. It actually turned out to be quite a finely tuned scale."

"The usual designation of the magnitude scale to my name does less than justice to the great part that Dr. Gutenberg played in extending the scale to apply to earthquakes in all parts of the world."

"Most loss of life and property has been due to the collapse of antiquated and unsafe structures, mostly of brick and other masonry. … There is progress of California toward building new construction according to earthquake-resistant design. We would have less reason to ask for earthquake prediction if this was universal."

"I think that harping on [earthquake] prediction is something between a will-o'-the-wisp and a red herring. Attention is thereby diverted away from positive measures to eliminate earthquake risk."

"In plotting earthquake measurements] the range between the largest and smallest magnitudes seemed unmanageably large. Dr. Beno Gutenberg then made the natural suggestion to plot the amplitudes logarithmically."

"When Benjamin Franklin invented the lightning-rod, the clergy, both in England and America, with the enthusiastic support of George III, condemned it as an impious attempt to defeat the will of God. For, as all right-thinking people were aware, lightning is sent by God to punish impiety or some other grave sin—the virtuous are never struck by lightning. Therefore if God wants to strike any one, Benjamin Franklin [and his lightning-rod] ought not to defeat His design; indeed, to do so is helping criminals to escape. But God was equal to the occasion, if we are to believe the eminent Dr. Price, one of the leading divines of Boston. Lightning having been rendered ineffectual by the “iron points invented by the sagacious Dr. Franklin,” Massachusetts was shaken by earthquakes, which Dr. Price perceived to be due to God’s wrath at the “iron points.” In a sermon on the subject he said, “In Boston are more erected than elsewhere in New England, and Boston seems to be more dreadfully shaken. Oh! there is no getting out of the mighty hand of God.” Apparently, however, Providence gave up all hope of curing Boston of its wickedness, for, though lightning-rods became more and more common, earthquakes in Massachusetts have remained rare."

"Diseased nature oftentimes breaks forth In strange eruptions; oft the teeming earth Is with a kind of colic pinch'd and vex'd By the imprisoning of unruly wind Within her womb; which, for enlargement striving, Shakes the old beldam earth and topples down Steeples and moss-grown towers."

"I was impressed with how much history could be woven around the theme of an earthquake. This was learning made easy because it was so enjoyable."

"The Earth is God's pinball machine and each quake, tidal wave, flash flood and volcanic eruption is the result of a TILT that occurs when God, cheating, tries to win free games."

"We know we cannot underestimate the importance of emergency planning in our region, nor can we assume we'll have ample warning time. If an earthquake or terrorist attack hits, we won't necessarily have advance alerts or opportunities to double- and triple-check our plans."

"Man survives earthquakes, epidemics, the horrors of disease, and agonies of the soul, but all the time his most tormenting tragedy has been, is, and will always be, the tragedy of the bedroom.”"

"Nature uncovers the inner secrets of nature in two ways: one by the force of bodies operating outside it; the other by the very movements of its innards. The external actions are strong winds, rains, river currents, sea waves, ice, forest fires, floods; there is only one internal force—earthquake."

"Opinions have caused more ills than the plague or earthquakes on this little globe of ours."

"Once you have been in an earthquake you know, even if you survive without a scratch, that like a stroke in the heart, it remains in the earth's breast, horribly potential, always promising to return, to hit you again, with an even more devastating force. ”"

"However, within the hollows of the earth, When from one quarter the wind builds up, lunges,muscles the deep caves with its headstrong power, The earth leans hard where the force of wind has pressed it; Then above ground, the higher the house is built, The nearer it rises to the sky, the worse Will it lean that way and jut out perilously, The beams wrenched loose and hanging ready to fall. And to think, men can't believe that for this world Some time of death and ruin lies in wait, Yet they see so great a mass of earth collapse! And the winds pause for breath—that's lucky, for else No force could rein things galloping to destruction. But since they pause for breath, to rally their force, Come building up and then fall driven back, More often the earth will threaten ruin than Perform it. The earth will lean and then sway back, Its wavering mass restored to the right poise That explains why all houses reel, top floor Most then the middle, and ground floor hardly at all."

"While the contribution of traditional religions to earthquake relief is generally acknowledged, social prejudice makes it more difficult to recognize the good work of new religious movements."

"It may well be on such a night of clouds and cruel colors that there is brought forth upon the earth such a portent as a respectable poet. You say you are a poet of law; I say you are a contradiction in terms. I only wonder there were not comets and earthquakes on the night you appeared in this garden."

"I am grateful to President George W. Bush for PEPFAR, which is saving the lives of millions of people in poor countries and to both Presidents Bush for the work we've done together after the South Asia tsunami, Hurricane Katrina and the Haitian earthquake."

"Earthquakes traveling through the interior of the globe are like so many messengers sent out to explore a new land. The messages are constantly coming and seismologists are fast learning to read them."

"Our earth is very old, an old warrior that has lived through many battles. Nevertheless, the face of it is still changing, and science sees no certain limit of time for its stately evolution. Our solid earth, apparently so stable, inert, and finished, is changing, mobile, and still evolving. Its major quakings are largely the echoes of that divine far-off event, the building of our noble mountains. The lava floods and intriguing volcanoes tell us of the plasticity, mobility, of the deep interior of the globe. The slow coming and going of ancient shallow seas on the continental plateaus tell us of the rhythmic distortion of the deep interior-deep-seated flow and changes of volume. Mountain chains prove the earth's solid crust itself to be mobile in high degree. And the secret of it all—the secret of the earthquake, the secret of the “temple of fire,” the secret of the ocean basin, the secret of the highland—is in the heart of the earth, forever invisible to human eyes."

"The earthquake, however, must be to every one a most impressive event: the earth, considered from our earliest childhood as the type of solidity, has oscillated like a thin crust beneath our feet; and in seeing the laboured works of man in a moment overthrown, we feel the insignificance of his boasted power."