Earthquake in the Malay Peninsula
This note by H. N. Ridley documents the earthquake of 17 May 1892 that affected the Malay Peninsula and parts of Sumatra, published in the Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (Vol. 25, 1894).
Summary
Ridley records the shock as felt at Tanglin, Singapore, at 8.10 p.m., describing the progressive increase in violence, the rattling of furniture and banging of doors, and an estimated violent period of about one minute within a total duration of nearly four minutes (p. 169). He compiles observations from multiple locations, including Mr. T. A. Wandale’s account of two distinct oscillations at Pasir Panjang, and notes that no damage was reported in the Peninsula beyond a lamp glass and ruler shaken from a table at Telok Ayer, while much damage occurred at Padang Sidempuan in Tapanuli, Sumatra (p. 170). The tremor was felt across Singapore, Johor, Muar, Malacca, Jelebu, Penang, Province Wellesley, and Pekan, but not in Borneo or Java, with certain spots such as Government Hill and Fort Canning reporting no sensation at all, which Ridley discusses in terms of Milne’s concept of “earthquake bridges” (p. 170).
Ridley analyses the direction of the horizontal vibrations, which ran generally west to east in the Peninsula, and suggests the epicentre lay somewhere between south of Deli and north of Malacca, possibly associated with the volcano Sarek Berapi (p. 171). He also notes the absence of a tidal wave on Singapore coasts and observes that the weather had been unusually hot and oppressive in the period preceding the shock, a correlation he considers worth remarking upon (p. 171).