Archival search for felt reports for the Alaska earthquake of August 27, 1904

Item Type Report

Authors Tape, Carl

Download date 02/10/2021 08:27:09

Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/11122/6589 Archival search for felt reports for the Alaska earthquake of August 27, 1904 [Part B] Carl Tape, University of Alaska Fairbanks, [email protected] Last compiled: July 3, 2017

Overview These notes are an addendum to Tape et al. (2017). They are available at the Scholarworks@UA website and can be cited as Tape (2016). There are two pdf documents part of the collection. This is Part B, which contains supplemental information on seismological history that is relevant to the time period of the 1904 Alaska earthquake. Part A covers details on what we found within the archival collections that we searched.

Acknowledgments The idea to look at monthly meteorological reports for earthquake felt reports (e.g., Lawson, 1904; Howard, 1904) came from a blog entitled “Forgotten Earthquake of October 1922,” by Dr. Brian Brettschnei- der. I thank Dr. James Dewey of the U.S. Geological Survey and the National Earthquake Information Center for helpful discussions about historical seismology and macroseismic data (i.e., shaking intensi- ties). I thank Kara and Skip (Albert E. Theberge, Jr.) at the NOAA Central Library for directing me to the online documents available through NOAA (including annual Weather Bureau reports), and for providing me with background on the Cooperative Observers Program.

Contents

B1 Crustal earthquakes in central Alaska 2

B2 Supplement on historical seismology relevant to the 1904 earthquake 2 B2.1 Excerpts from USGS annual reports ...... 3 B2.2 Transcription of Monthly Weather Review (1897, June, p. 257) ...... 4 B2.3 Transcription of Monthly Weather Review (1905, June, p. 252-3) ...... 5 B2.4 Compilation of Tarr and Martin (1912) ...... 7

B3 Felt reports in monthly weather records 7 B3.1 Cooperative observers in Alaska ...... 8

References 9

List of Tables

B1 Notable crustal earthquakes in central Alaska ...... 12 B2 Earthquakes reported by meteorological observers in Alaska ...... 14

List of Figures

B1 Crustal earthquakes in central Alaska, ...... 13 B2 Meteorological reports for the month of August, 1904 ...... 15

1 B1 Crustal earthquakes in central Alaska

Table 8 of Tape et al. (2017) listed crustal earthquakes in central Alaska. This table is copied to Table B1, and Figure B1 provides a map of the epicenters.

B2 Supplement on historical seismology relevant to the 1904 earthquake

For a history of seismology, please see Lee et al. (2003). Tape et al. (2017) contains the primary infor- mation on the seismological studies of the 1904 earthquake. Harry Fielding Reid was a key figure within U.S. seismology at this time, and here we provide more context. 1904 was a transitional time period in the United States’ approach to earthquake cataloging. Here are some summary points based on text within this section:

• Thousands of volunteer weather observers were across the U.S. in 1900; in pre-territorial Alaska there were are least 15, as evidenced from the number of preserved reports for October 1900. These observers made daily measurements of the weather. Their official instructions (Moore, 1897) did not ask them to report earthquakes (Section B3), though many observers did note earthquakes (Sec- tion B2.2). The Monthly Weather Review listed some of these observations in a regular Recent Earth- quakes column, which ran from June 1897 to April 1899, after which time The Monthly Weather Review covered isolated earthquakes that were reported by observers or recorded by seismographs. Henry (1898) provides an excellent summary of meteorological observing in Alaska from 1872 to 1898, the time of the article.

• Reid was formally tasked by USGS with collecting earthquake observations from wherever “any information could be obtained, either from the newspapers, the reports of the Weather Bureau and the Light-House Board, or by correspondence” (Walcott, 1903).

• Reid was also reviewing seismic recordings of earthquakes (Reid, 1905a,b).

• In 1905 Reid asked The Monthly Weather Review to ask its observers to make observations about the effects of earthquake shaking (Section B2.3).

• In 1905 The Monthly Weather Review stepped back from regularly reporting earthquakes (Sec- tion B2.3). The task seems to have been handed over to Reid and USGS. (See Tape et al. (2017).)

• Reid’s earthquake compilation efforts may have diminished with the occurrence of the April 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Reid was one of eight members of the State Earthquake Investigation Commission, and he authored a seminal report on the earthquake (Reid, 1910).

• Reid was influential in the 1912 USGS report on the 1899 Yakutat Bay earthquakes (Section B2.4). This report included a compilation of felt reports in Alaska between 1899 and 1908; there is no felt report for the 1904 earthquake.

• In 1914 the U.S. Weather Bureau Chief C. F. Marvin announced that the Bureau would be resuming seismological work (Monthly Weather Review, December 1914, p. 687).

• In 1924 the task of reporting earthquakes was officially transferred to the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey (Monthly Weather Review, June 1924, p. 334). From 1925 to 1927 the Coast and Geodetic Survey published quarterly reports on earthquake observations from felt reports and from instru- mental data.

• The first comprehensive annual compilation of earthquakes in the U.S. was published by the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey in Heck (1928).

2 Alaska earthquakes did not appear until the 1947 edition (Heck, 1947a), where Reid’s unpublished notes are cited for the entry about the 1904 Alaska earthquake (Heck, 1947b). The whereabouts of Reid’s notes (and card catalog) are unknown; they are no longer at the Johns Hopkins Library.

• Woollard (1968) provides some background on the connection between Reid and Heck. According to Woollard (1968), Harry Reid “for years had subscribed to a newspaper clipping service to obtain information on earthquakes too small to be recorded instrumentally by the then existing network of seismograph stations.” Reid had assembled “card files . . . concerning those events he felt were bonafide earthquakes as well as the accumulated newspaper clippings which he had not studied.” In 1937 George Woollard “spent several months” working with Reid and N. H. Heck “in compiling a catalogue of minor earthquakes in the United States” (Woollard, 1968). (Note that no events from Alaska are included in Woollard (1968).)

• Reid is also acknowledged by Tarr and Martin (1912) for his help in collecting earthquake felt reports in Alaska (Section B2.4).

B2.1 Excerpts from USGS annual reports Harry Fielding Reid played a leading role in cataloging earthquakes in the United States in the early 1900s. Based on scant mentions about earthquakes in their several-hundred-page annual reports, the United States Geological Survey was not invested in earthquake monitoring in the early 1900s. In fact, there is no discussion of earthquakes and no mention of Reid in the 1901 and 1902 annual reports. Then in 1903 we see that Reid “continued his work as special expert in charge of earthquake data” (Walcott, 1903, p. 65). (The quote implies that his work with USGS started earlier, though I did not pursue this point.) Although Reid is not mentioned in the 1906 annual report, the text about cataloging earthquakes is copied from earlier reports. In April 1906, the San Francisco earthquake struck, and it was perhaps not surprising—given his leading role in seismology and his working relationship with USGS—that Reid played a leading role in investigating the 1906 earthquake. His analysis culminated in a publication that documented the earthquake and laid out his famous theory of elastic rebound (Reid, 1910). A full list of Reid-related excerpts from USGS annual reports follows:

• 1901, Parts 1–4. No discussion of earthquakes, no mention of Reid.

• 1902. No discussion of earthquakes, no mention of Reid.

• 1903 (Walcott, 1903, p. 65).

Reid party.—Prof. Harry Fielding Reid continued his work as special expert in charge of earthquake data. A careful record has been kept of all earthquakes occurring in the United States and its dependencies, about which any information could be obtained from newspapers or periodicals, from reports of the Weather Bureau or the Light-House Board, or by special correspondence. These records are preserved in permanent form in a card catalogue arranged chronologically, and are readily accessible. Special informa- tion was collected regarding the earthquake of February 8, whose center was in southern Illinois; also the earthquake of April 24, which occurred in northeastern Massachusetts and southeastern New Hampshire.

Reid is also listed in the table of “Allotments to geological parties,” with the entry: Reid, H. F. (earthquake records) . . . $125 (The $125 is small in comparison to the other allotments, which are in the thousands of dollars.)

• 1904 (Walcott, 1904, p. 54).

3 Reid party.—Prof. Harry Fielding Reid continued his work as special expert in charge of earthquake data. During the year a careful record, in the form of a card catalogue ar- ranged chronologically, was kept of all earthquakes occurring in the United States about which any information could be obtained, either from the newspapers, the reports of the Weather Bureau and the Light-House Board, or by correspondence. Special information was collected regarding the earthquake of November 4, 1903, which was felt throughout a large section southeast of St. Louis, and also regarding that of March 21, 1904, which was felt in the extreme northeastern part of this country and in Nova Scotia. Upon the invitation of the German Government, an international seismologic confer- ence was held at Strassburg from July 24 to July 28. The official delegates represented nineteen countries in various parts of the world, Professor Reid being the delegate from the United States. As a result of this conference the International Seismological Asso- ciation was formed for the purpose of cooperative earthquake investigations, and it is expected that seismologic studies will be stimulated, especially in countries which have not heretofore been active in this field.

Reid is again listed in “Allotments to geological parties” for $125. • 1905 (Walcott, 1905, p. 46). Reid party.—Prof. Harry Fielding Reid continued his work as special expert in charge of earthquake data. During the year a careful record, in the form of a card catalogue arranged chronologically, was kept of all earth quakes occurring in the United States about which any information could be obtained, from the newspapers, the reports of the Weather Bureau and the Light-House Board, or by correspondence. Reid is not listed in the table of “Allotments to geological parties.” • 1906. (Walcott, 1906, p. 21) Earthquakes.—The record catalog of earthquakes occurring in the United States has been continued. It contains information obtained thru newspapers, thru reports of the Weather Bureau, thru the Light-House Board, and by special correspondence. The se- vere earthquake which occurred in California on the morning of April 18 was made the subject of a special investigation, in which the Geological Survey cooperated with the State of California and the Carnegie Institution. Two officers of the Geological Survey became members of the commission appointed by Governor Pardee, of California, and a third was temporarily detailed to assist in the work. This commission is studying the phe- nomena of the earthquake in a systematic manner, and has already made a preliminary report. The Geological Survey has a]so investigated the injury to buildings and other structures in San Francisco and vicinity, for the purpose of ascertaining what materials and forms of construction are best adapted to withstand earthquake vibrations.

B2.2 Transcription of Monthly Weather Review (1897, June, p. 257) Although earthquakes have but a very remote connection with meteorology, yet it seems to be expected that the observers of the Weather Bureau will record these, as also aerolites, and that some notice of these phenomena should appear in the Monthly Weather Review. The Editor of the Review hopes that some geologist will devote himself to the study of the slight tremors and occasional severe quakes that are so frequent throughout the United States, and that he may receive from such an one an authoritative monthly summary of seismic phenomena. For the present he can himself only undertake to give the briefest review of the character of the reports that accumulate monthly in the archives of the Weather Bureau. There can be no doubt that the solid crust of our globe to a depth of 20 or 30 miles is in a state of strain, and that the strains are perpetually changing as direction and intensity. Whenever any stratum of

4 rock is too severely strained it must crack or crush suddenly. It may move up or down or sideways, and it may perform several oscillations to and fro before it comes to rest. A break once made in this way makes it easier for succeeding strains to make other breaks in the same locality. In this way mountain chains and great “faults” seem to have been formed. The small shocks that are so frequently experienced represent the minute steps in the process of elevation or depression by reason of which the general surface of the country is slowly rising above the ocean, or it may be occasionally sinking below it. The existence of sedimentary deposits along our coasts is held to be a viable record of the action of the ocean when that region was far below its present level. As large portions of the earth have undoubtedly risen and fallen alternately, thought very slowly, through heights of several thousand feet, there have been produced corresponding changes in climate, the flora and the fauna, and this may easily have gone to extreme limits so that regions that are now habited by man may have been in previous ages uninhabitable , and may in future ages return to that condition. From this point of view the elevations and the changes that are going on form an integral part of meteorology, since that science is often called upon to explain not merely the future weather under present conditions, but the so-called geological climate belonging to the land areas of ancient geological eras. The principal recent earthquakes, as reported by voluntary observers and by the newspapers were . . .

B2.3 Transcription of Monthly Weather Review (1905, June, p. 252-3) Inasmuch as the gentlest earthquake sets into oscillation, from a purely gravitational point of view, the magnetic needles that record their positions photographically in the standard magnetic observatories, therefore the Coast and Geodetic Survey keeps an independent record of earthquakes at its magnetic ob- servatories at Cheltenham, Md.; Honolulu, Hawaii; Sitka, Alaska; and Isabel, Vieques Island, near Porto Rico. Similar records are also kept at Toronto, Ont.; Victoria, B. C.; Baltimore, Md.; Mount Hamilton, Cal.; St. Louis, Mo., and the Weather Bureau at Washington. In addition to the mechanical disturbance of magnetic records there are also some occasions on which earthquakes seem to be accompanied by true magnetic disturbances. In still other cases distinct and continuous earth tremors appear to be accompanied with certain meteorological conditions. For many years the earthquakes recorded by both regular and cooperative observers of the Weather Bureau were published in the Monthly Weather Review, in order that the data might become available to students of seismology. Recent arrangements have, however, been made by which American earthquake data will be published both by the U. S. Geological Survey and in Dr. Bauer’s international quarterly journal “Terrestrial Magnetism and Atmospheric Electricity.” Therefore, the Monthly Weather Review will hereafter confine its notes on earthquakes to the publication of records at its own stations and such special cases appear to require notice in our columns. At the urgent request of the Editor, a general earthquake committee was appointed in 1882, and even- tually the U. S. Geological Survey concluded to give some attention to this subject, which truly belongs to geophysics as a part of geology. According to the 25th Annual Report of the Director of the U. S. Geological Survey, Prof. Harry Fielding Reid, of the Johns Hopkins University, has been placed in charge of earthquake data as a special expert. The report says: During the fiscal year 1903-4 Professor Reid kept a careful record of all earthquakes occur- ring in the United States about which any information could be obtained, either from the newspapers, the reports of the Weather Bureau and the Light-House Board, or by correspon- dence. Special information was collected regarding the earthquake of November 4, 1903, which was felt throughout a large section southeast of St. Louis, and also regarding that of March 21, 1904, which was felt in the extreme northeastern part of this country and in Nova Scotia. Upon the invitation of the German Government, an international seismologic conference was held at Strassburg from July 24 to 28, 1904. The official delegates represented nineteen countries in various parts of the world, Professor Reid being the delegate from the United

5 States. As a result of this conference the International Seismological Association was formed for the purpose of cooperative earthquake investigations, and it is expected that seismologic studies will be stimulated, especially in countries which have not heretofore been active in this field.

American observers and the correspondents of the Monthly Weather Review are therefore invited to send reports of earthquakes to the Director of the U. S. Geological Survey for the use of Professor Reid. It is only in exceptional cases that such articles on this subject will hereafter be published in the Monthly Weather Review, as we do not wish to duplicate his publications. The first semiannual report by Professor Reid covering the months January to June, 1904, will be found1 in “Terrestrial Magnetism,” June, 1905, Vol. 1, pages 81-96. A fuller report will probably be published as a bulletin of the U. S. Geological Survey. We have been requested to assist in distributing the following request for careful reports:

DESIDERATA RELATIVE TO EARTHQUAKES. The U. S. Weather Bureau usually publishes in the monthly reports of the Climate and Crop Service, notices of earthquakes which have occurred in the respective States. The value of these reports would be greatly increased if more detail were given, especially with regard to the exact time of occurrence and the intensity of the shock. When earthquakes are reported on the same day from various localities not very distant from each other, it may happen that they refer to the same disturbance or to different disturbances. If the exact times are recorded any uncertainty can, in general, be removed. In the compilation of general lists of earthquakes for all parts of the world, it is convenient to refer them all to some one standard of time, such as Greenwich mean time, but as the days in different parts of the world begin and end at different times, this is not possible unless the time of the disturbance is known and the local standard of time is mentioned. Earthquakes of all intensities occur from those too small to be recorded even by the most delicate instruments to those of destructive violence. When the shock is unusually strong, much detail regarding it is apt to be given for that locality, but when it is only moderate, the record frequently states merely the fact that an earthquake was felt. Now, in studying earthquakes it is important to know the intensity of the wave of shock as it spreads outward over the globe, and it is, therefore, desirable that sufficient description of the local phenomena be given to allow the intensity of the shock to be expressed according to the Rossi-Forel scale, which is given below. This scale has been generally adopted by seismologists throughout the world.

ROSSI–FOREL SCALE. I. Recorded by a single seismograph, or by some seismographs of the same pattern, but not by several seismographs of different kinds; the shock felt by an experienced observer.

II. Recorded by seismographs of different kinds; felt by a small number of persons at rest.

III. Felt by several persons at rest; strong enough for the duration or the direction to be appreciable.

IV. Felt by persons in motion; cracking of ceilings.

V. Felt generally by every one; ringing of some bells.

VI. General awakening of those asleep; general ringing of bells, stopping of clocks; visible disturbance of trees and shrubs; some startled persons leaving their dwellings.

VII. Fall of plaster; ringing of church bells; general panic; little or no damage to buildings.

1[Carl Tape] See Reid (1905a,b). The second part included a description of the 1904 Alaska earthquake (Tape et al., 2017).

6 VIII. Fall of chimneys; cracks in the walls of buildings.

IX. Partial or total destruction of some buildings.

X. Great disasters; ruins; disturbance of strata; fissures in the earth’s crust; rock falls from mountains.

It is best for the individual local observers to describe as accurately as possible what the earthquake did and leave it to the student who compares all records to assign the scale values to the local intensities.2

B2.4 Compilation of Tarr and Martin (1912) Ralph Stockman Tarr3 and Lawrence Martin of the United States Geological Survey published a seminal report on the Yakutat Bay earthquakes of September 1899 (Tarr and Martin, 1912). Within this study, they contacted many Alaskans to ask them about their experiences with earthquakes over the time period 1899–1908. Harry Reid may have been responsible for encouraging Tarr and Martin to collect felt reports in Alaska. In the Acknowledgments, they write “to D. H. F. Reid of Johns Hopkins University, for critical suggestions and for the loan of newspaper clippings dealing with the earthquakes” (p. 12). (Interestingly, Reid is also cited numerous times in Tarr and Martin (1912) for his work on glaciers in Alaska.) In Chapter 5 (“Observations of the Earthquake”), the authors write: “After the manuscript of the pre- ceding pages of this report was essentially ready for publication, it was decided that it might be worth while to send out an earthquake circular containing a series of questions and requests for information in order that the area of the sensible shock might be more carefully determined and that additional contem- porary accounts of the phenomena might be procured and existing information verified” (p. 62). They show a copy of the circular that was sent out to about 600 people in Alaska, including “all regular and voluntary United States Weather Bureau observers” (p. 63), among several other groups. They wrote: “The sending out of this circular has amply repaid the labor, expense, and delay. From the 600, some of which were sent out as late as June, 1908, over 200 replies of various sorts were received. . . ” This impressive effort led to a table of Miscellaneous earthquakes in Alaska (p. 92-93). As noted in Tape et al. (2017), not one of the felt reports was for the 1904 earthquake.

B3 Felt reports in monthly weather records

Two of the five felt reports for the 1904 Alaska earthquake came from the monthly pages of volunteer weather observers, one in Coldfoot (Howard, 1904) and one in Sunrise (Lawson, 1904). As noted in Tape et al. (2017), the observer in Coldfoot—Frank E. Howard—was a U.S. Commissioner (Brady, 1904). (There is also a Frank E. Howard who is featured in Barry (1997) the Hope/Sunrise gold rush of 1896 and who is mentioned in the context of trials. Chances are, this is the same person.) Less is known about the observer in Sunrise, A. Lawson. Some background on the history of the Cooperative Weather Observers (Coop) program is useful to understand why weather measurements were being taken in the first place. Quoting the NOAA web- site (http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/coop/what-is-coop.html), “The Coop was formally created in 1890 under the Organic Act. Its mission is two-fold:

• To provide observational meteorological data, usually consisting of daily maximum and minimum temperatures, snowfall, and 24-hour precipitation totals, required to define the climate of the United States and to help measure long-term climate changes

• To provide observational meteorological data in near real-time to support forecast, warning and other public service programs of the NWS.

2[Carl Tape] This is interesting. In essence, Reid/MWR is asking observers to include descriptions related to the Rossi–Forel Scale, so that someone else ascertain the level of shaking intensity. 3As noted on p. 10 of the report, Tarr died suddenly on March 21, 1912, at his home in Ithaca, New York.

7 The NOAA historical summary (http://www.history.noaa.gov/legacy/coop.html) ex- plains how the program was rooted with Thomas Jefferson and that by 1891 there was already a network of 2000 stations and observers across the country. Perhaps the most useful document relevant to our pursuit of the 1904 Alaska earthquake is the set of instructions provided to the observers, presumably resembling those from 1897 in Moore (1897). It explains the type of equipment to be used Under MISCELLANEOUS PHENOMENA, Moore (1897) lists the following categories:

• frost

• coronæ(“These must be distinguished from halos. Coronæare very common, especially around the moon, and are produced by the rays passing through a thin layer of cloud.”)

• thunderstorms

• tornadoes

• auroras

• general phenomena of climate. Information of a general character relating to the growth of plants will be of value in compiling the climatology of a district.

• character of day. The weather should be recorded clear when the sky is 8/10 or less obscured; partly cloudy, when the sky is from 4/10 to 7/10 obscured; cloudy, when the sky is more than 7/10 obscured.

Conspicuously absent is the category of earthquakes. Perhaps this is what prompted Reid to ask Monthly Weather Review (Section B2.3) to ask its observers to note earthquakes and even to note details that would facilitate an assessment of shaking intensity. His request, published in 1905, would have been too late to reach the observers for the 1904 Alaska earthquake. Thankfully, two of them noted earthquakes in the MISCELLANEOUS PHENOMENA column of the monthly forms.

B3.1 Cooperative observers in Alaska Weather stations/observers in Alaska in during July, August, and September 1904 are listed in Table B2 and shown in Figure B2. The 24 stations in Table B2 match the official number for Alaska listed in the annual report of the Weather Bureau (Moore, 1905). Pre-territory Alaska is distinguished in the national list by its low number of observers and its lack of any “crop correspondents” and published “weekly bulletins” and “monthly climate and crop reports.” Alaska is not mentioned at all in the 1903 annual report. The 1904 report does mention Alaska:

Correspondence with the Chief Signal Officer of the Army resulted in securing the gener- ous cooperation of that official in the opening of a number of voluntary stations in Alaska along the military telegraph lines. For this purpose twenty sets of instruments, constituting the voluntary observer’s equipment, were sent to officers having charge of the Signal Corps telegraph operators. As a result of this action meteorological records are already being re- ceived from new Alaskan stations, and , with the establishment of the full number of stations for which equipments have been provided, the Bureau will receive meteorological data from a region concerning which available information is very meager.

There are indications that this effort was at least partly successful: notice the number of stations on Fig- ure B2 from Fort Liscum (Valdez) to the northeast toward Fort Egbert (Eagle)—this marked the Valdez– Eagle telegraph line, part of the WAMCATS effort. However, there were no new stations along the WAM- CATS telegraph line between Fort Gibbon (Tanana) and Fort St. Michael. Most stations—notably our 1904 felt reports in Coldfoot and Sunrise—were not on the WAMCATS telegraph routes. A time-history

8 of monthly weather records for each of the Alaska stations prior to 1904 would provide insights into the origin of each station, either from a military fort, a telegraph station operator, a dedicated volunteer, or something else.

References

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Tape, C. (2016), Archival search for felt reports for the Alaska earthquake of August 27, 1904, Scholar- Works@UA at http://hdl.handle.net/11122/6589 (last accessed 2017-03-13).

10 Tape, C., A. Lomax, V. Silwal, J. D. Agnew, and B. Brettschneider (2017), The 1904 Ms7.3 earthquake in central Alaska, Bull. Seismol. Soc. Am., 107(3), 1147–1174, doi:10.1785/0120160178.

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Walcott, C. D. (1903), Twenty-fourth Annual Report of the Director of the United States Geological Survey to the Secretary of the Interior, 1902-3, Washington, D.C.

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11 Table B1: Crustal earthquakes in central Alaska, M ≥ 5.5, since the start of the instrumental era in 1904 (Tape et al., 2017, Table 8). origin time ref mag ref GR ISC ISC Eng E P SC P WC B P B G 86 91 93 82 82 88 88 1904-08-27 21:56:06 GR 7.3 Abe X X – X – X X X X X X 1912-07-07 07:57:36 GR 7.2 Abe X X – X – X X X X X X 1923-06-19 22:43:42 ISCG 6.0 ISCG – X† X – – – X – – X – 1923-07-17 01:02:11 GR 5.6* GR X X – – – – X – X – – 1929-01-21 10:30:59 ISCG 6.1 ISCG X X X – – X X X X X X 1929-07-03 00:53:04 ISCG 5.8 ISCG X X X – – – X X X X – 1929-07-04 04:28:40 ISCG 6.0 ISCG X X X – – X X – X X X 1931-05-29 05:16:32 GR 5.6* GR X X – – – – X – X X – 1931-10-17 12:34:50 GR 5.6* GR X X – – – – X – X X – 1932-03-25 23:54:51 GR 6 GR X X – – – – X – – X – 1932-03-25 23:58:40 ISCG 6.7 ISCG X X X X – – X – – X – 1932-06-08 07:52:46 ISCG 6.0 ISCG X X X – – – X – – – – 1933-07-26 04:57:26 GR 5.6* GR X X – – – – X – X – – 1935-09-04 01:27:43 ISCG 6.25 GR X X X†† – – – X X – X X 1937-07-22 17:09:32 ISCG 7.3 Abe X X X X – X X X – X X 1947-10-16 02:09:51 ISCG 7.2 Abe X X X X X X X X – X X 1947-10-20 01:43:21 ISCG 6.4 ISCG – X† X – – – X – – – – 1948-02-11 15:41:59 ISCG 6.2 ISCG – X† X – – – X – – X – 1950-05-25 08:34:40 ISCG 6.0 ISCB – X X†† – – X X X – X – 1958-04-07 15:30:45 ISCG 7.3 Abe NA X X X X X X – – X X 1958-04-08 00:14:21 ISCG 5.9 ISCG NA X X – – X X – – – – 1958-04-13 09:07:28 ISCG 5.9 ISCG NA X X – – X X – – X X 1958-05-10 22:54:44 ISCG 5.9 ISCG NA X X – – X X X – X X 1958-05-11 05:23:59 ISCG 5.9 ISCG NA X X – – X X X – X X 1958-08-31 23:00:19 ISCG 5.9 ISCG NA X X – – X X – – X – 1961-01-30 12:12:36 ISCB 5.5 ISCB NA X – – – – X – – X – 1962-08-18 17:46:17 ISCG 5.6 ISCG NA X X – X – X – – X – 1964-06-29 07:21:33 ISCG 5.6 ISCG NA X* X – – – X – X X – 1965-04-16 23:22:22 ISCG 6.0 ISCG NA X X X X X X – – X – 1967-06-21 18:13:04 ISCG 5.7 ISCG NA X X X X X X X – X – 1968-10-29 22:16:18 ISCG 6.7 ISCG NA X X X X X X X – X X 1985-03-09 14:08:06 ISCG 6.1 GCMT 1995-10-06 05:23:21 ISCG 6.0 GCMT 1996-10-22 22:15:04 ISCG 5.7 GCMT 2000-02-03 10:24:59 ISCG 5.6 GCMT 2000-11-29 10:35:48 ISCG 5.8 GCMT 2002-10-23 11:27:20 ISCG 6.6 GCMT 2002-11-03 22:12:43 ISCG 7.9 GCMT The catalog searched is the ISC Bulletin (International Seismological Centre, 2013). Here “central Alaska” is defined by the latitude bounds 62◦ and 66.5◦ and longitude bounds −161◦ and −141◦. The bold-typed events (M > 7) are used within the comparisons of felt reports in Figure 11 and Table 9 of Tape et al. (2017). Seismicity catalogs: Abe = Abe (1981) and Abe and Noguchi (1983), GR = Gutenberg and Richter (1954) (events labeled NA post-date the catalog), ISCB = ISC Bulletin (International Seismological Centre, 2013), ISCG = ISC-GEM 4.0 (Storchak et al., 2013), Eng = Centennial Catalog (Engdahl and Villasenor, 2002), GCMT = Global Centroid Moment Tensor catalog (Dziewonski et al., 1981; Ekstrom¨ et al., 2012). Compilations: E86 = Espinosa et al. (1986), P91 = Page et al. (1991), SC93 = Stover and Coffman (1993), P82 = Pew´ e´ (1982), WC82 = Table 5-1 of Woodward-Clyde Consultants (1982), B88 = Brockman et al. (1988), P88 = Pulpan (1988). The magnitude estimates for the 1937, 1947, and 1958 earthquakes are lower in ISCG (7.12, 7.15, 7.12) than those in Abe (1981) (7.3, 7.2, 7.3). ∗‘Class d’ (M 5.3–5.9) earthquake of Gutenberg and Richter (1954). †This ‘X’ for ISCB denote an event whose magnitude is not listed or <5.5 in ISCB. ††This ‘X’ for ISCG denotes an event in the ISC-GEM supplementary catalog.

12

Magnitude Magnitude

7.5 7.0 6.5 6.0 5.5 7.5 7.0 6.5 6.0 5.5

62˚ 62˚ 62˚ 62˚

64˚ 64˚ 64˚ 64˚

66˚ 66˚ 66˚ 66˚ Eagle Eagle Tok Tok Denali (2012). 7.9 Denali 100 km and

w

−144˚ −144˚ −144˚ −144˚ ∼ M 100 km 100 km

Tintina Circle Circle Glennallen Glennallen Paxon Paxon Delta Delta Koehler et al.

2002 Salcha Salcha

Fairbanks Fairbanks

−148˚ −148˚ −148˚ −148˚ Nenana Nenana , since the start of the instrumental era in Minto Minto 5 . 5 Rampart Rampart Talkeetna Talkeetna ≥ M earthquakes, the earthquake rupture is 13 7 Tanana Tanana ≥

−152˚ −152˚

M Denali Ruby Ruby McGrath McGrath Huslia Huslia

−156˚ −156˚

Iditarod−Nixon Kaltag Kaltag Kaltag fault earthquake, the earthquakeis rupture plotted. is well This documented is and a is reminder much that larger for than the the red circle that 1904. The map shows the earthquakes listed in listed in Tableextends B1. outside the plotted (top) dots. For (bottom) the Same, 2002 but showing the active faults of Figure B1: Crustal earthquakes in central Alaska,

−160˚ −160˚ 66˚ 66˚

64˚ 64˚

62˚ 62˚ Table B2: Earthquakes reported by meteorological observers in Alaska, July–September, 1904. A total of 24 different stations have records during this time period; this number matches the one listed in Moore (1905, p. 25) for Alaska. A ‘–’ indicates that no record was available. A number indicates the number of earthquakes reported in a record. During these three months there were 4 felt reports from a total of about 1890 = 3 × 30 × 21 daily reports. location Jul Aug Sep Chistochina 0 0 0 Coal Harbor 0 0 0 Coldfoot 1 1 – Copper Center 0 0 0 Fairbanks – – 0 Fort Gibbon (Tanana) 0 0 0 Fort Liscum (Valdez) 0 0 0 Fort Yukon 0 – – Fortmann Hatchery 0 0 0 Juneau 0 0 0 Kenai 0 0 0 Ketchemstock 0 0 0 Killisnoo 0 0 0 Kotzebue 0 – 0 Mine Harbor 0 0 – Nushagak 0 0 0 Orca – – 0 Petersburg 0 0 0 Sitka 0 0 0 Skagway 0 0 0 Sunrise (Hope) 0 2 0 Tanana Crossing (Tanacross) 0 0 0 Teikhill 0 0 0 Wrangell 0 0 0 number of monthly weather records 22 20 21 number of earthquakes reported 1 3 0

14 Figure B2: Locations of stations with meteorological reports for the month of August, 1904 (Table B2). The observers in Sunrise and Coldfoot noted the 1904-08-27 earthquake. The stations from Fort Liscum (Valdez) toward Ketchemstock to Fort Egbert (Eagle; not shown) were along the WAMCATS telegraph line from Valdez to Eagle. Figure courtesy of Brian Brettschneider.

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