Individual Event Report
| Event #86 - Summary, and parameter estimates with source IDs |
| This event may be a mistaken account of the 1872 earthquake. The 1870 date appears in several catalogs, but is problematic, as there are no contemporary accounts. The account given by Plummer in 1893 is the most comprehensive and indicates extremely severe shaking both in Puget Sound and near the Columbia River, suggesting that it might possibly refer to the 1872 earthquake. The Plummer account mentions September - but a search of the Portland Oregonian, The Washington Standard (Olympia), and The British Colonist (Victoria) found no record of such an event in September of 1870. Other sources give no date or month, just the year of 1870. Plummer states that the earthquake was strongly felt on the side-wheel steamer Alida docked at Port Gamble. This could possibly be used to determine whether these reports belong to 1872, or to another event. |
| TIME |
LOCATION |
MAGNITUDE |
MAX. INTENSITY |
FELT AREA |
| YR |
MO |
DAY |
HR |
MIN |
AM/PM |
Time
Type |
LAT(N) |
LON(W) |
DEP
(km) |
MAG |
Mag
Type |
Felt
Plc. |
Felt
St. |
Inten-
sity |
Int.
Type |
Felt
Area |
Felt
Area
Int. |
Felt
Area
Units |
| 1870 |
9 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Puget Sound |
WA |
VII |
RF |
|
|
|
| N-WPP - 2471 |
- |
- |
- |
HOLD2 - 1221 |
- |
Underlying Source Material
| Source ID |
Publication |
Pub Date |
Pub Details |
| 2471 |
Coombs, H.A., W.G. Milne, O.W. Nuttli, and D.B. Slemmons, "Report of the Review Panel on the December 14, 1872 earthquake", |
1976 |
Appendix D: Selected Supporting Information -- Professor Plummer's Paper on "Recent Volcanic Activity" Read before the Academy of Science - Tacoma Ledger - February 28, 1893 |
Transcription: (This is part of an 8 page article - see the WPPSS table for entire text RSL 7/1995)
The most violent earthquake of recent times occurred in September of
the year 1870. All evidence goes to prove that the shocks came from the
direction of Mount Olympus in the Olympic range. On the Cowlitz prairies
stock was stampeded, chimneys were destroyed, fences were leveled and in
the houses the chairs rocked and clocks were thrown from the mantels. At
Yelm there were observed two very strong shocks, followed by several
sILg!it ones. Clocks were stopped and many thrown down. Chickens were
thrown off the roosts and chimneys and buildings were cracked. In many places
earth fissures were formed, and on the Columbia river trail it was necessary
to make repairs in many places to prevent accidents to horses. Numerous
cracks were found, some as far east as Okanogan and Yakima. In many parts a
dull rumbling noise was heard. At Olympia houses rocked violently, throwing
down chairs, and destroying crockery, and a child was thrown from its bed.
The maple trees swayed to and fro like inverted pendulums, and people who
stood in the streets to avoid falling chimneys, were thrown to the ground.
In Lewis County many chimneys were broken off close to the roofs. The side-
wheel steamer Alida was lying at her dock at Port Gamble with her stern
pointing north and the dock to the westward. Her officers and her men were-
startled by a strong blow against the guards on the port side, and rushed
out upon the dock thinking the steamer had been run into. A strong swell
immediately began to roll the boat, and from the excited people who had
rushed into the streets, they learned that an earthquake had occurred.
Gamblers deserted their tables, leaving their gold in the scramble to get
out from under buildings. It may be presumed that Port Gamble was well
and truly named. With this earthquake is connected the fall of a
large portion of Mount Tacoma, for upon the first clear day following
the shocks it could be clearly seen that the Liberty Cap Cor north peak)
had lost about eighty acres from its southern end, which h.ad been detached
from the main part of the peak and was distributed down the western slope.
The Liberty Cap now shows a nearly perpendicular face on the southern side
which is plainly visible from points south of Yelm. Were the evidence
as to the direction of the earthquake less clear, it might be argued
that the falling of this immense mass produced the shocks, but the
reverse is probably true. The Puyallup Indians have a tradition that
at one time Tacobet (Mount Tacoma) broke near the summit. A point
fell off and drifted over to the Olympics, and after this phenomena
there was snow on the Olympics--but never before. |
| |
| Source ID |
Publication |
Pub Date |
Pub Details |
| 670 |
Reid, unpub., Scrapbook and Cardfile, on microfilm at USGS in Menlo Park |
|
|
| Transcription: Puget Sound 1870 or 1872 VII -Holden's Cat. pg 84 Informa- tion indefinite as to year. "Seven shocks" |
| |
| Source ID |
Publication |
Pub Date |
Pub Details |
| 1034 |
Townley, S. D. and M. W. Allen, 1939, Descriptive Catalog of Earthquakes of the Pacific Coast of the United States 1769-1928, Chap. III Earthquakes in Washington, 1883-1928, BSSA, V. 29, No. 1, pp. 259-268 |
1939 |
|
| Transcription: 1870 ? (VII). Puget Sound. "Several old settlers insist that there were severe shocks, but none can state the day or time. They may refer to 1872?"-P. |
| |
| Source ID |
Publication |
Pub Date |
Pub Details |
| 1221 |
Holden, E.S., 1898, A Catalog of Earthquakes on the Pacific Coast 1769-1897, Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, 1087 |
1898 |
|
| Transcription: 1870? Puget Sound (VII). Several old settlers insist that there were severe shocks, but none can state the day or time. They may refer to 1872?__P. |
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