Show WASHINGTON II LETTER nl i iBy By lly 1 I n W NKA X EA Sen Ses- Ice Witter WASHINGTON WASIlI July 16 16 Earthquakes arent aren't hard to fore tore tell A bit of or study's studs necessary that's all 1111 Predictions cant can't be bo quite as ac accurate ac- ac accurate accurate curate 00 as 8 the weather bureaus bureau's perhaps That Is Is they cant can't be bo pinned down to specific dates However Howe they usually can bo be mado made within a a. matter of oC months They The can cnn be made too a a. good deal eal farther In advance than weather predictions carte can can This Is the tho testimony of ot experts like the hydrographic offices office's the coast and geodetic surveys survey's the bureau of ot standards standards' and the tho Smithsonian and Carnegie Institutions Institutions' Institutions Institutions' These scientists do no wild guessing make no forecasts on the strength of ot anything allY thing but Information don tion they have excellent reason to consider reliable In support of their claims they point out that the thA California coast coastIn co t In tn the vicinity of ot Santa Barbara Darbara ills lias J under been been Un under suspicion for or three I or four tour years Navy records and those tholo of ot the Carnegie and Smith Smithsonian Institutions prove It As M long ago as last summer smith smith-I Commander George E. E Brandt then assistant hydrographIc Ic lc office chief definitely men men- mentioned mentioned Santa Barbara Darbara as ae a danger point Only a few tew days das before the ac actual ac- ac temblor Admiral W. W Eberle chief of naval operations expressed expressed ex ex- pressed pre Fed the opinion that Brandts earthquake was about due Not bad either r ns as to 10 Ime or area The experts didn't go quite so far tar as nl to say en Sorts Santa Barbara would be stricken but the there expression was re heard around from t them Santa Sant t r frequently Seismology's progress ha has b ben been cn very rapid recently owing to per per- perfection of or the sonic depth finder ly ty Dr D- D Harvey C. C Hayes Haye of ot the naval research laboratory near neur Washington Previously deep tea sea sounding had been such slow work that scientists couldn't keep up with With Il I changes chances in ocean depths Dr Hayes ayes a s' s sd device d It Is to l done dono O as rapidly as a fast ship can a si tram Jam a i so that a day-by-day day record Is I possible if desired de I That's Just what science does r rc e qu O maybe a-maybe maybe not literally day- day day hy but frequently to to to know ow of ot coming quakes Earth shifts which presage big shakeups occur pretty rapidly once they start tart WP We P. think of ot geological changes an as a taking ages and no doubt the processes responsible for them arc are very ry slow but when the time comes corol for a n readjustment nature works fast talt Indeed the quakes l themselves testify to this theorys theory's correctness they hey certainly are lire abrupt enough However there are arC advance warnings A ship equipped with the Hayes sounding device charts the ocean floor In the autumn say eny and off ort Santa Sant Barbara Darbara The following spring she he takes take fresh soundings and finds deeper water In some ome places pInceR than before The rhe best guess gueM Is that a n. submArine fault ault has slipped Something Something- like Ilk a a. rubber ball the I he earth pressed down In one ono spot tends to lo rise somewhere else Its It's II up Ul to the tho Investigators In has hav havIng hasIng Ing discovered cred a point where i II a downward pressure evidently In is be be- be being ing exerted to determine where the Ih corresponding upward tilt lilt U is Uto isto to 10 be he expected By following the tho line of or the fault tault this Isn't difficult to do and do-and and quite exactly I Seismologists dont don't t neglect lai land observations observation Much lIch Is learn fro tro but bul generally lOc this knowledge lags lag behind what l Is discovered dl o cred ered by submarine research For one thing thin the tho oceans olans are arc much larger 1 than Ihan the land sur sur- surfaces faces Cacre There are arc more submarine than Ihan land changes because theres there's more mor room for tor them Secondly It is S Into Inlo the s sa sea a that the tho continents are lire constantly be- be washed pressing lna down on the th ocean floor and end disturbing bal bil- balances ances weight of-weight of on the earths earth's Thus Thui most quakes are be he- believed e. e to be of submarine origin only their reflexes being felt Celt Ashore hore Finally let Itt a rack crock open In the tI reeled n ll and In lit rushes rush R a lot of ot cold coldwater coldwater water onto the earths earth's In- In causing an nn explosion which shakes things up lip as ns only such a monster explosion can ean To b h sure ute earthquakes cant can't b be b prevented even If IC for toru n. n But precautions can be taken to the damage the scientists say MY |