Phenix Gazette

Earthquake at the North.—The St. Lawrence Republican of the 22d instant, states, that on the evening of Sunday, the 22d, the report of an Earthquake was felt at Ogdensburgh at about half past 11 o’clock. Houses were shaken so much as to awaken many from sleep; and the tremulous motion of every thing was painfully perceptible to every person awake. The rattling of stoves, crockery and windows, with the vibration of every thing moveable, together with a sound like distant thunder underneath the surface of the earth, was distinctly felt and heard, by all who had not retired to sleep. There were three distinct shocks, the second being the most violent, at intervals of about half a minute, and the rumbling noise continued two minutes. The convulsive movements of the earth appears to have travelled north, as the quaking was felt at Montreal about an hour after its occurrence at Ogdensburgh. The Montreal Herald of the 25th, says, the shock was very distinctly felt in that city, varied in the degree of its violence, in the different quarters of the town. In some parts there was a previous, not very loud, but very distinct, noise for some seconds before the shock was felt; this was the case in the St. Louis and in the St. Lawrence Suburbs, in which latter quarter a gentleman of undoubted veracity affirms, that his attention was particularly attracted by the sound, which, as he describes it, was like the passing of an exceeding heavy wagon, crushing pieces of ice beneath its wheels.—The gentleman rose, and immediately feeling the shock, was induced to look out at the weather, which was clear and perfectly serene. One lady was so sensible of the shaking of the bed in which she was lying, that she could with difficulty be persuaded but what a large dog belonging to her son had found his way into her room and was beneath her bed. In another instance, a lady, not yet retired to rest, hearing the movement of the poker and tongs, actually went into the adjoining room to see who was there. Although, continues the Herald, we believe those convulsions of nature are common in Canada, yet for a great many years nothing so decided has been felt. It is remarkable in this country all the earthquakes occur in the winter.

We may now anticipate accounts of dreadful Earthquakes in South America. We believe, it has generally happened, that when Earthquakes occur in South America, they have been felt in the Northern Continent. Such was the fact, if we do not misremember, in 1811, when Caraccas was laid in ruins, and half the continent of South America rolled and heaved like the troubled ocean. The same Earthquake was felt through the whole valley of the Mississippi—and in some places with great violence. One town was almost destroyed. Passing northward, though with lessening force, it agitated the great lakes, and ultimately died away in the valley of the St. Lawrence.