Paper:
Origin Time of the 1854 Tokai Earthquake Recorded in the Logbook of the Russian Frigate Diana
Reiko Sugimori*,, Kazuko Ariizumi*, and Kenji Satake**
*Historiographical Institute, The University of Tokyo
7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
Corresponding author
**Earthquake Research Institute, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
The December 23, 1854 Tokai earthquake (M∼8), followed by Nankai earthquake by ∼30 hours, occurred along the Nankai Trough and caused widespread damage due to ground shaking and tsunamis. At the time of the earthquake, a Russian frigate, Diana, was anchored in Shimoda Bay and experienced the earthquake and tsunami. The frigate was damaged and eventually wrecked. Four Japanese historical documents reported that strong shaking occurred in Shimoda after 9 a.m. and before 10 a.m. in local time, reflecting the two-hour unit of the timekeeping system used in Japan at that time. The information from the frigate, reported in contemporary newspapers in English, all mentioned that an earthquake first shook the ship severely, and that they then observed the tsunami entering the bay around 10:00 in local time. The time of the earthquake, however, was reported as 9:15 in Shanghai and American newspapers (The North-China Herald, The Daily Union), and as 9:45 in the British press (The Times, The Illustrated London News). We found that the original logbook of the Diana, archived at the Russian State Archives of the Navy, Saint Petersburg, recorded that the earthquake occurred “at 3/4 of the 10th hour,” indicating 9:45. The former newspapers seemed to have been based on the information provided by the men of the American frigate Powhatan, which also arrived at Shimoda after the earthquake, but the time might have been erroneously translated into “three-quarters to ten.” More precisely, the above time expression should be interpreted as being between 9:45 and 9:59 in local time (138±b°57’E), corresponding to between 0:29 and 0:43 Greenwich Mean Time.
- [1] K. Satake, “Geological and historical evidence of irregular recurrent earthquakes in Japan,” Philosophical Trans. of the Royal Society A, Vol.373, No.2053, doi: 10.1098/rsta.2014.0375, 2015.
- [2] I. Kitahara, R. Matsu’ura, and R. Kimura (Eds.), “Nihon rekishi saigai jiten (Encyclopedia of disasters in Japanese history),” Yoshikawa Kobunkan Press, pp. 313-321, 2012 (in Japanese).
- [3] Central Disaster Management Council, “1854 Ansei Tokai jishin Ansei Nankai jishin hōkokusho (Report on the 1854 Tokai and Nankai earthquakes),” Cabinet Office, Government of Japan, pp. 21-28, 2005 (in Japanese).
- [4] A. D. Bache, “Notice of earthquake waves on the western coast of the United States, on the 23rd and 25th of December, 1854,” American J. of Science and Arts, Vol.21, pp. 37-43, 1856.
- [5] S. Kusumoto, K. Imai, R. Obayashi, T. Hori, N. Takahashi, T.-C. Ho, K. Uno, Y. Tanioka, and K. Satake, “Origin time of the 1854 Ansei-Tokai tsunami estimated from tide gauge records on the west coast of North America,” Seismological Research Letters, Vol.91, No.5, pp. 2624-2630, doi: 10.1785/0220200068, 2020.
- [6] T. Kawaji, “Shimoda nikki (Shimoda diary),” Historiographical Institute, The University of Tokyo (Ed.), “Bakumatsu gaikoku kankei monjo, furoku (Documents relating to Foreign Affairs in the Last Days of the Shogunate, appendix): Series of Dai Nihon Komonjo (Old Documents of Japan),” Vol.1, pp. 113-193, 1913 (in Japanese).
- [7] N. Muragaki, “Shimoda kikō (Shimoda diary),” Historiographical Institute, The University of Tokyo (Ed.), “Bakumatsu gaikoku kankei monjo furoku: Series of Dai Nihon Komonjo,” Vol.2, pp. 406-544, 1917 (in Japanese).
- [8] T. Matsu’ura, “Shimoda nikki (Shimoda diary),” M. Akiba (Ed.), “Matsu’ura Takeshiro Senshu,” Vol.1, pp. 431-503, Hokkaido Publication Project Center, 1996 (in Japanese).
- [9] K. Koga, “Seishi zokki (Shimoda diary),” Historiographical Institute (Ed.), The University of Tokyo, “Bakumatsu gaikoku kankei monjo furoku: Series of Dai Nihon Komonjo,” Vol.1, pp. 305-413, 1913 (in Japanese).
- [10] “The North-China Herald (Shanghai),” March 8, 1855.
- [11] “The New York herald (New York),” May 28, 1855.
- [12] “The North-China Herald (Shanghai),” March 17, 1855.
- [13] S. Horiguchi, “Amerika shisetsu hon-jōyaku torikawase ōsetsu hikki (Record of the reception of American envoy for ratifying the treaty),” Historiographical Institute, The University of Tokyo (Ed.), “Bakumatsu gaikoku kankei monjo: Series of Dai Nihon Komonjo,” Vol.8, pp. 372-384, 1916 (in Japanese).
- [14] “Logbook of the USS Powhatan, 1854–1855,” The National Archives and Record Administration, Washington, D.C., the National Archives Catalog, Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships, ca. 1801–1940: USS Powhatan, 9/8/1854–9/19/1855, https://catalog.archives.gov/id/148770870 [accessed May 2, 2021]
- [15] “The New York herald (New York),” June 23, 1855.
- [16] “The Daily Union (Washington, D.C.),” May 29, 1855.
- [17] M. Watanabe, “Watanabe-ke nikki (Diary of Watanabe family),” Earthquake Research Institute, The University of Tokyo (Ed.), “Shinshu Nihon Jishin Shiryō Zoku-Hoi Bekkan,” pp. 561-574, 1994 (in Japanese).
- [18] “The Times (London),” December 14, 1855.
- [19] “Spartan Ship’s Logs,” 1855, The National Arichives, Kew (UK), Admiralty and Ministry of Defence, Navy Department, Ship’s Logs: Spartan, July 1–December 31, 1855, ADM53/5882.
- [20] “The Illustrated London News (London),” January 5, 1856.
- [21] “Шханeчный жуpнaлъ 52 пушечного фрегата Диaна ... (Logbook of frigate Diana).” РГАВМФ (Российский государственный архив Военно-Морского Флота) (Russian State Archives of the Navy), Saint Petersburg, Ф.870. Оп.1. Д.7322. Л.1-31 (in Russian) (Viewed the image on the library’s reading room terminal of the Historiographical Institute, The University of Tokyo).
- [22] P. Elkin, “Заметки o гидрографическxиъ Занятіяxъ во время кругосвѣтнаго плаванія на фрегата «Діaна» съ 1853 по 1855 годъ (Notes about hydrographic employment during the circumnavigation on the frigate Diana from 1853 to 1855),” Mорской cборникъ (Naval collection), Vol.24, No.10, pp. 105-131, 1856 (in Russian). N. Kitazawa (trans.), “Bakumatsu raikō puchāchin kantai no Nihon engan suiro chōsa (Survey of the Japanese coastal waterway of the Putyatin fleet arriving at the end of the Edo period),” Suiro (Hydrography), Vol.33, No.3-4, Vol.34, No.1-2, 2004-2005 (in Japanese).
- [23] T. Hori, “Oboegaki (Note on personnel and size of the Diana),” Historiographical Institute, The University of Tokyo (Ed.), “Bakumatsu gaikoku kankei monjo: Series of Dai Nihon Komonjo,” Vol.8, pp. 79-82, 1916 (in Japanese).
- [24] “Рапорт Е. В. Путятина великому князю Константину Николаевичу о заходе фрегата «Диана» (Report by E. V. Putyatin to Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich on the arrival of the frigate Diana).” РГАВМФ (Российский государственный архив Военно-Морского Флота) (Russian State Archives of the Navy), Saint Petersburg, Ф.410. Оп.2. Д.1004. Л.44-53 (in Russian) (Viewed the image on the library’s reading room terminal of the Historiographical Institute, The University of Tokyo).
- [25] V. Makhova, “Фрегатъ «Діaна» (Frigate Diana),” Saint Petersburg, 1867 (in Russian). A. Takano (Trans.), “Furegato Dianagō kōkaishi (Voyage note on frigate Diana),” in “Goncharofu Nihon tokōki (Voyage note to Japan by Goncharov),” pp. 641-698, Yushodo Press, 1969 (in Japanese).
- [26] “Выписка из шканечного журнала фрегата «Диана» о пребывании на Симодском рейде и последствиях стихийных бедствий (Extract from the logbook of the frigate Diana about the stay at Shimoda and the consequences of natural disasters).” РГАВМФ (Российский государственный архив Военно-Морского Флота) (Russian State Archives of the Navy), Saint Petersburg, Ф.410. Оп.2. Д.1004. Л.54-64 об (in Russian) (Viewed the image on the library’s reading room terminal of the Historiographical Institute, The University of Tokyo). Of December 11, 1854 to January 7, 1855 (in the Julian calendar) articles attached here, December 30, 1854 to January 7, 1855 (January 11–19, 1855 in the Gregorian calendar) were translated into Japanese by N. Kitazawa in “Suruga-wan ni shizunda Diana-gō” (pp. 160-168, M. Nagi, Genshu Publishing, Tokyo, Japan, 2005), from Mорской cборникъ (Naval collection) (Vol.17, No.7, pp. 244-257, 1855. in Russian) on this source.
- [27] “The Polynesian (Honolulu),” February 10, 1855.
- [28] K. Satake, M. Heidarzadeh, M. Quiroz, and R. Cienfuegos, “History and features of trans-oceanic tsunamis and implications for paleo-tsunami studies,” Earth-Science Reviews, Vol.202, doi: 10.1016/j.earscirev.2020.103112, 2020.
This article is published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internationa License.