Cascadia Catalog 1793-1930

	Cascadia Historic Earthquake Catalog, 1793-1929 Covering Washington, Oregon and Southern British Columbia Provided by: The Pacific Northwest Seismic Network About the Cascadia Historic Earthquake Catalog One-line catalog format 1793-1849 .... 1850s .... 1860s .... 1870s .... 1880s .... 1890s .... 1900s .... 1910s .... 1920s .... 1930s (not complete) .... Other Cascadia Catalogs

Individual Event Report

Event #228 - Summary, and parameter estimates with source IDs
Felt in Portland and Salem. The Oregonian reports that in Portland from the corner of Front and Gibbs Streets to the center of the city, nearly everybody who was questioned had felt the shake and bottles were rattled at the druggist's shop. In Salem the shock was distinct. No damage.
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
1891	9	16	8	40	P		44.94	121.03				Salem	OR
N-WA - 2143							WWC - 1695		-	-		BYERL - 357				-

Underlying Source Material

Source ID	Publication	Pub Date	Pub Details
1305	Berg and Baker, 1963, Oregon Earthquakes, 1841 through 1958, BSSA, V. 53, No. 1, pp. 95-108	1963
Transcription: 1891 Sept 17 4:30:-- Sept 16 8:30 pm (PST) Salem IV 10

Source ID	Publication	Pub Date	Pub Details
500	Townley, S.D. and M.W. Allen, 1939, Descriptive Catalog of earthquakes of the Pacific Coast of the United States 1769 to 1928, Chapter II, Earthquakes in Oregon--1846-1928, BSSA, V. 29, No. 1, pp. 253-258.	1939
Transcription: 1891 September 16. 8:30 p.m. Salem. The shock was brief and distinct, and was followed by a wave-like motion lasting several seconds. It was felt in all large buildings; windows rattled.

Source ID	Publication	Pub Date	Pub Details
1566	The Oregonian	1891	Sept 17, 1891; p. 9, c. 2.
Transcription: Earthquake Shocks Distinctly felt in Portland and in Salem Last Evening About 8:45 last evening a telephone message came from the central office of the Oregonian asking if anything had been heard about an earthquake or a powder house explosion, as some one had telephoned from South Portland that something of that nature had taken place there. A minute later a gentleman telephoned from South Portland to say that there was some kind of "a phenomena" loose in that region, and it had been shaking up things generally. He did not know whether it was an earthquake or an explosion, but was inclined to think it was the former . A reporter at once started out to see what was the matter, and not finding any traces of an earthquake, took the electric car to South Portland. A druggist at the corner of Front and Gibbs streets said his store had been shaken so that the bottles rattled and he thought the rear of the building was falling. The shake lasted about 15 seconds and the floor of the building undulated and made him feel queer as to the stomach. The firemen nearby said they had felt the building shaking, but supposed it was the horses moving around. From that point into the center of the city nearly everybody who was questioned had felt the shake, and some said there were two shocks, passing from east to west, while others said there was one sharp shock and then undulations following, and the duration of the affair was variously estimated at from 15-20 seconds. By the time the reporter had returned to the office the following dispatch arrived from Salem: "This morning at 8:10 an earthquake shock was felt here quite distinctly. It was one abrupt shock for seconds duration, followed by gentle undulations, which exhausted themselves in about 4 seconds. In larger brick buildings and all large structures the shock was clearly felt. It is the first one of the kind here in many years. The shock was quite distinctly felt in the Western Union office in Portland and at various other central points."

Source ID	Publication	Pub Date	Pub Details
1695	Woodward Clyde Consultants, unpublished	1981	Woodward-Clyde Consultants (1981), Historical Catalog (1841-1980) for the Pacific Northwest Region, unpublished catalog prepared for the Washington Public Power Supply System. Copy provided to UW in 1993.
Transcription: 189109170430000 44940-121033W IV BB 4 01

Source ID	Publication	Pub Date	Pub Details
1262	Holden, E.S., 1898, A Catalog of Earthquakes on the Pacific Coast 1769-1897, Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, 1087	1898
Transcription: 1891. September 16; Salem, Oregon; 8:30 P.M. The shock was brief and distinct, and was followed by a wave-like motion lasting several seconds. It was felt in all large buildings;windows rattled.

Source ID	Publication	Pub Date	Pub Details
2143	Seattle Post Intellegencer	1891	News of Northwest Section, Thursday, Sept. 17, 1891
Transcription: EARTHQUAKE SHAKES OREGON Buildings in Portland and Salem Tremble - Shocks continue Ten Seconds Portland, Sept. 16 -- at 8:40 this evening two shocks of earthquake, lasting about ten seconds, followed one another in quick succession. The first shock caused buildings to shake quite perceptibly. The vibrations were from east to west. Salem, Sept. 16 - This evening at 8:40 an earthquake shock was felt here quite distinctly. There was an abrupt shock of a second's duration, followed by gentle undulations, which exhausted themselves in about four seconds. In the larger brick buildings and all the large structures the shock was clearly felt.

Source ID	Publication	Pub Date	Pub Details
357	Byerly, Perry, 1952, Pacific Coast Earthquakes, Condon Lecture, pp. 33-38	1952	U.W. Library, N979 B991p, Special Collections)
Transcription: 1891, September 16 Salem. The shock was brief and distinct and was followed by a wave-like motion. Windows rattled.

Source ID	Publication	Pub Date	Pub Details
599	Reid, unpub., Scrapbook and Cardfile, on microfilm at USGS in Menlo Park
Transcription: Salem 8:30 pm 16 Sept, 1891 -Holden's Cat. pg 161

Source ID	Publication	Pub Date	Pub Details
812	Reid 2, unpub., Scrapbook and Cardfile, on microfilm at USGS in Menlo Park
Transcription: Salem 8:30p October 16, 1891

Source ID	Publication	Pub Date	Pub Details
2047	Leslie M. Scott, Memoranda of the Files of the Oregonian 1850-1910, Oregon Historical Society	1910	Unpublished index to the Oregonian
Transcription: at Portland, and Salem, Sept. 16, 1891

Source ID	Publication	Pub Date	Pub Details
7114	Washington State Weather Service Monthly Meteorological Report and Summary of the Washington State Weather Service (AKA - Monthly Review of the Washington State Weather Service) (Seattle, Washington)	1891-1896
Transcription: September 16, 1891 “… a light earthquake shock occurred at Portland on the 16th and at East Sound on the 21st.” Seattle Weather Report September 1891 (Anacortes American Nov 5, 1891 p 4 col. 5) September 21, 1891 “… a light earthquake shock occurred at Portland on the 16th and at East Sound on the 21st.” Seattle Weather Report September 1891 (Anacortes American Nov 5, 1891 p 4 col. 5) October 2, 1891 “The earth quaked slightly at Chelan on the 2d, moving from the southeast to northwest.” State Weather Bureau [September (sic October) 1891 Monthly Report] (Anacortes American Dec 10, 1891 p 4 col. 5) Dec 9, 1894 “Slight earthquake shock on 9th at Lakeside.” (Volume 4 # 6 December 1894 p. 1) Feb 14, 1895 “Silver Creek, Lewis Co.: Slight earthquake shock on the 14th.” (Volume 4 #8 February 1895 p. 1) Feb 25, 1895 “An earthquake shock was quite generally noticed in Western and Central Washington on the morning of the 25th about 4:30 o’clock.” “Ashford, Pierce co: Quite a severe earthquake occurred here on the twenty fifth at 4:27 A.M.” “Centerville, Klickitat Co: Feb. 25th, at half past four A.M., two earthquake shocks were felt very distinctly, one following immediately after the other. The first was stronger than the second.” (Volume 4 #8 February 1895 p. 1) July 13, 1895 “At Grand Mound on the 13th a brilliant meteor was noticed in the east moving at an elevation of about 14 degrees.” (Volume 5 #1 July 1895 p. 1) Jan 3, 1896 “An earthquake was noticed on the 3d at New Whatcom, Coupeville, East Sound, and other places in the northwestern portion of the state. Mr. Jas. Theo. Geoghegan, observer at East Sound, writes: "An earthquake shock was felt at this place on the evening of the 3d of January, 1896, at 9 minutes past 10 o’clock, lasting for about 20 seconds. It was not accompanied by any noise. The shock was preceded by a slight trembling lasting a few seconds, and about 5 seconds after this a sharp shock was felt lasting 10 or more seconds. The intensity would come in class 3, but in one case, at least, plaster was cracked and thrown down.” “Mr. Lewis Mayhew, observer at New Whatcom, writes: “On the 3d at 10 P.M. two distinct shocks of earthquake were felt; vibration from east to west, lasting 6 seconds; no damage done.” (volume 5 #7 January 1896 p 1) Feb 5, 1896 “Lapush: Earthquake shock night of 5th.” (volume 5 #8 February 1896 p 1)