Science: Quake Coming

Dean Kirtley F. Mather of the Harvard Observatory has been feeling the geologic pulse of New England carefully ever since the earthquake series which she began to experience in September, 1924. He warned her in advance of the shocks felt last month in the Merrimac Valley (TIME, Oct. 19), and last week he told her that worse upheavals are coming, upheavals as violent as those that visited New England in 1775 and about the same calibre as the Santa Barbara shocks last summer. He predicted that the property damage to New England would be great because of the number of buildings on insecure terrain and the vertical architecture, but he looked for most damage from panic. He argued the wisdom of instructing the public in “the amenities of conduct during earthquakes.” In the light of prior experience, he roughed out a preparedness program:

1) When it comes (any time now, within two or three years) do not rush out in the street, “the most foolish procedure possible” because of falling walls and debris.

2) Install now seismographic stations in many localities, with a view to studying strains on the crust of the earth and perhaps foretelling the exact location of the worst upheaval.

3) Insist on better building regulations and safety measures with regard to gas, oil, electricity and other dangerous commodities.

4) Organize relief units now, along lines indicated by work in California and Japan.