The Manitowoc Tribune

The severest earthquake ever known on the Pacific coast, occurred early on the morning of the 21st of October. The shock at San Francisco was severe. In the business portion of the city, the sidewalks were covered with piles of brick and plaster, buildings cracked from cellar to roof; splendid plate glass windows shivered into a thousand pieces, and some houses in course of construction were leveled to the earth. A few people were killed or wounded by the falling walls, others were injured by their frantic efforts to get out of the buildings. During the entire week shocks were felt, but none so violent as on the first day. The losses, although great, are not as extensive as at first supposed. There were a great many buildings injured, but they were mostly those that were defective in construction, or built on made ground: strongly built houses were not materially injured. The printing offices suffered severely. The types and forms were scattered about, and no little trouble was experienced to work off the newspapers, owing to the above fact, and the fears of the men to enter the buildings. The shocks of 1868 were perpendicular in oscillation, while these recent ones were horizontal. The effects of the two were quite different. In 1868 glass was broken and shivered to atoms, while comparatively few walls were shaken down or badly injured. The late shocks, however broke very little glass, but shook off cornices, plasterings, &c. It is not improbable that earthquakes may occur at any moment in the neighborhood of San Francisco. There are volcanoes north, south, and east and although not in the immediate vicinity of the city, still it is in great centre of a volcanic range, and subject to its influence.