Page:Great Neapolitan Earthquake of 1857 Vol 2.djvu/99

62 said to have been all flat and smooth, previous to the shock of December;

Fig. 310

it is now wrinkled all over, more or less in lines the directions of which are shown in Fig. 310. The average direction in length, of the wrinkles, about the mid-length of the room, is 50° W. of north. The west wall has gone out much, towards the west; the fissures produced are 2 inches wide at top, and a large piece of the south end of this wall, has fallen out to the west.

A doorway at $$m$$had been bricked up for a long time, with one brick thick: the whole is thrown about 22° E. of north. A partition south of it, $$m\ n$$ prevented its fall in that direction: the brickwork was thrown in one flake, nearly, twisting eastwards as it fell.

The staircase at the north end, is of limestone on groined arches, and constitutes that end of the building, a rigid tower; as respects the remainder, the groining is full of complicated fissures. Comparing, the twisting of the ceiling, the directions of the main fissures, and their relative sizes in the main walls, the directions of throw of the fallen walls, and the indications afforded by the fissures, in the groining of the staircase, I conclude, that the direction of shock was one from west to east, and not far from 80° E. of north.