NEW SEISMOGRAPH NOT DISTURBED BY TRUCKS

If the State of Maine trembles, the Department of Geology will know it, for a seismograph station is being established in the Portland home of Roger L. Arringdale at 211 Ocean Avenue. Directed by Arringdale, the new staton will be in operation within a month.

To keep accurate check on Mother Earth, three instruments will be installed, one to record north-south tremors, one for east-west motion, and a third for up-and-diwn movements. In 1928 the Department set up a seismograph in the basement of the Geological Museum. However, the instrument was so delicate that an earthquake was recorded whenever a class was dismissed or a truck rumbled by. Even the movements of the night watchman could be traced on its record.

Consequently the equipment was transferred to a special concrete room at the Oak Ridge Observatory, based on solid rock. Continual observations are made here, and the station cooperates with others in locating quakes, using radio communication.