CONCORD TREMOR CAUSED BY THAW

Professor K. F. Mather, seismologist for the University and one of the most prominent geological authorities in the country, in an interview with the CRIMSON, said that the earthquake in Concord had no connection with the devastating one in Japan.

The Concord earthquake was of a sort very apt to occur in New England when the ground melts in early spring, said Professor Mather, and is caused by small faults developing along frost cracks. The recent Japanese quake, however, was brought about by a slipping of land masses along a fundamental fault which lies near the shore. The serious Japanese earthquake of 1923 was also caused by this same fault.

"The intensity of earthquakes is measured by what is called the Rossi Foucel scale," said Professor Mather. "This scale is based upon the amount of damage done by an earthquake, 10 representing complete destruction and 1 representing an imperceptible tremor. The degrees between these extremes are measured according to whether chimneys are toppled, the amount of vibration felt by people, and so forth. The earthquake in Concord was probably about intensity 4, enough to frighten people."

When asked whether the seismograph at the University Museum had recorded these recent quakes. Professor Mather said that it had responded to the one at Concord, but that there had been no record of the tremor in Japan. This was probably due to the disturbances which have been caused by the construction on the new Chemical Laboratory next door, where the steam shovels cause small earthquakes.

The seismograph, Professor Mather continued, is really two instruments, each pointing in different directions at right angles to each other. This aids in determining the direction from which the tremor comes. Each seismograph has a point which rests upon a revolving cylinder. An earthquake is recorded by the agitation of the line drawn by the point on the cylinder. When there is no agitation in the ground this line is perfectly straight.

When asked about the possibility of a severe earthquake around Boston, Professor Mather replied that there is a fault, the Funday Fault, which runs along the ocean floor about 75 miles out. A slipping along this fault may be expected every century at least, said Professor Mather, "This might reach an intensity of 8, sufficient to injure buildings, particularly those in filled land such as the Back Bay. Any such quake, however, would probably not be as serious as the one in San Francisco, since there the fault runs near the city."