Abstract
We have lots of records concerning the earthquakes in Nanching from A. D 225 up to the present, and among them the ones in Ming period are numerous and accurate in particular. For Nanching had been the capital from the beginning of Ming Dynasty to 1421, and since then, the capital being moved to Peiching, it had turned into vice-capital to the end of the Dynasty. Besides the earthquake was thought of as one of the most important heaven-sent warnings to the government of the emperor, so that the earthquake occurring just where the emperor resided had been thought much of especially. In making the chronological table of the earthquakes in Nanching in Ming period, I came across the fact that the small earthquakes had been frequently happening there from 1425 to 1430. The frequency is remarkable not only in the chronological table in this paper, but also throughout the whole history of the earthquakes in Nanching. These many frequent earthquakes seem to have certain resemblances; first, the intensity of the shock was slight, estimated 1-2 by Japanese seismic intensity scale, second, the felt area was limited to Nanching and its neighborhood, third, the magnitude is estimated very small, but whether they were shallow-focused ones, I cannot tell. To lay hold of the small earthquakes occurring in succession at short intervals so plainly as this is really a very rare occasion throughout the whole history of the earthquakes in China. See the chronological table on my paper in the next number.
