Six years before Christ, the isle of _Coos_ vehemently afflicted. During the _Peloponnesian_ war among the _Greeks_, the isle of _Delos_ shaken, and the most beautiful temple of _Apollo_ thrown down. Soon after, the city of _Lacedæmon_ totally destroy'd. _A. D._ 79. Three cities in _Cyprus_ overthrown. _A. D._ 82. The city of _Smyrna_ ruined. In the time of _Valens_ the emperor, a terrible earthquake in _Crete_, whereby 100 cities were destroy'd. _Feb._ 13, 1247, An earthquake, chiefly felt in the _Thames_. _Matt. Paris._ _May_, 1382, A general earthquake, which did much mischief; the _Friday_ following one less; the _Saturday_ following, one felt mostly by water. _Henry de Knyhton._ _Holinshed._ _A. D._ 1456, In the city of _Naples_, 40,000 people lost. _Constantinople_ has often suffer'd; particularly in 1509, 13,000 people overwhelm'd. 1531, At _Lisbon_, 1400 houses thrown down; as many shatter'd. _April_, 1690, The _Leeward-Islands_, _Montserat_, _Nevis_, and _Antigua_: At _Martinico_, and the _French_ islands, at St. _Lucia_, &c. a violent earthquake. _Dec._ 8, 1703, An earthquake at _Hull_, a perfect calm. 1702, At _Stroution_, in _Argyleshire_, which extended all along the west coast of _Great-Britain_; but to no breadth on land. _Oct._ 25, 1734, At _Havant_, in _Sussex_, considerable, the air perfectly calm. But instances enough, to show what I aim'd at, that maritime places are most subject; which is a strong argument in favour of electricity; when both the solid of the earth, and the quantity of the water concur, to make the shock; exactly as in electrical experiments; when the bottle of water is held in the hand. Thus when our mind is discharged of the prejudices of former notions, we discern, that every appearance favours the principle we go upon. That, agreeable to Mr. _Flamsted_, subterraneous explosions, could they pervade, and traverse the earth at pleasure, must at last burst, and disperse every thing in their way. Yet 'tis not possible for us to imagine, such a kind of vibration should follow, either by sea or land, as that we are treating of. But electricity compleatly answers it. This accounts for that superficial movement of the earth, that universal instantaneous shock, which made every house in _London_ to tremble, none to fall: That quivering, tremulous, horizontal vibration, highly different from any motion we must conceive, to be produc'd from subterraneous evaporations. Hence authors tell us, _Dec._ 30, 1739, describing an earthquake in the west-riding of _Yorkshire_: It seem'd as if the earth mov'd backward and forward horizontally; a quivering, with reciprocal vibrations. Mr. _Flamsted_ rightly accounts the motion of earthquakes to be undulatory; and by being continued, causes a like motion to a great distance. As when you strike a long stretch'd string of wire at one end, the motion is immediately continued to the other. So far he entered into the nature of electricity.