" . . . along the western slope of Mount Tawara, the earth had shifted vertically as much as 1.5 meters."
This description of how part of Mt Tawara had risen by 1.5 meters reminded me of Charles Darwin’s observations after the 1835 Chile quake:
“Darwin spent the next weeks investigating the effects of the earthquake. He found that rocks lined with recent marine shells were now elevated above the tide. The island of Santa Maria was raised an average of about 3 meters (9 feet).”
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/03/01/vanwyhe.quake.chile.darwin/
I remember learning about this several years ago. My respect for Darwin grew when I realized that he had not only been a revolutionary thinker in the field for biology but in geology as well. His observations helped confirm that “mountain chains were not created by sudden immense catastrophes, but grew almost imperceptibly, the product of thousands of successive uplifts over almost endless geological time.” Pretty smart guy! :)
To read Darwin’s account of the 1835 quake, go to
– Kirk
http://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20160428/p2a/00m/0na/013000c
