TREMORS DISTINCTLY FELT IN THIS CITY - BUILDINGS SWAYING, BUT NO GREAT DAMAGE DONE.

    Slight shocks of earthquake were felt in almost every section of this country last evening, the range of the disturbance extending from this city as far west as Omaha and south as far as Mobile, Ala. The wave is reported generally as passing from north to south and the time of successive shocks is given varying from a. few minutes after 9 o’clock to 10 o’clock. A great many people were frightened, and windows were rattled and vigorously shaken up in many places, but no report of any serious damage to person or property has thus far been received.

    After the earthquake shock there was no telegraphic communication last night with Charleston, S.C., from any point in the country. The telegraph companies we're unable to get press dispatches or other communications from there. That section of the country seems to have been the centre of the disturbance. Savanna, Ga., reported that the shock was the severest ever felt in that locality. It is known that a bridge in the vicinity of Charleston was shaken from its foundations, and the wires were all lost, but that is not so serious as the fact that various other points through which there should be a communication with the city are unable to get anything from within a radius of several miles of the place.

    The point from which the railroad leading into Charleston is reported submerged is Ravenel’s, a place on the Savannah and Charleston Railroad, about 18 miles distant from the city. It is probable that the part of the track under water has been covered by a heavy rise in the river.

    Telegrams from cities in South Carolina and Georgia say the utmost consternation prevails on account of the non-receipt of news from Charleston, and many feel that a terrible calamity has happened there.

    People who were in the upper stories of high buildings in this city felt the shock very distinctly. It shook chandeliers and made the gas flicker and played other minor pranks which made those who noticed it rather uncertain for the moment of the stability of things. The principal wave lasted for about 10 seconds. The movement appeared to be from a little east of north to a little west of south, and it was a gentle undulation. A second shock a few minutes later was more like a tremor. The shock was noticed by people in the operating room of the Western Union Telegraph Company's main office, at Broadway and Dey-street, at about 9:55 o’clock. Operators who were at their desks felt a peculiar swaying: motion which lasted about 10 seconds. It seemed as if their desks were on rockers and were being moved like cradles. The switchboard was swayed distinctly for several seconds. Before the operators could compare notes reports began to come in from the West and South of no more serious shock.

    At the offices of the Associated Press on the upper floor of the Western Union Building the earthquake was more noticeable than in the operating room.. The vibrations lasted slightly longer, it was thought, though no one made an attempt to get the exact time. The desks were shaken in a most uncomfortable, and for the moment, most unaccountable way. At the Signal Service office in the Equitable Building a foggy atmosphere and rapidly rising barometer had been noticed just before the earthquake occurred. The operators said that the sensation was at first something like what it would be were one attacked with vertigo. The shock was distinctly felt in various quarters up town, and in parts of Harlem was more pronounced even than it was down town. Officer Kelly, of the Union Market police station, not only felt it plainly, but the walls of the house at Avenue B and Seventh-street, were badly cracked. A section of the Fire Department was called out, but it was decided that the house was in no danger or falling. Warden Bennett, of the Gouverneur Hospital, also felt the shock distinctly.

    Two very perceptible shocks, moving from west to east, and each or them lasting for about two seconds were felt in various places in Brooklyn. The first occurred about 9:45 o’clock and the second which was much more violent, about 10:17 o’clock. Telegraph Operator Geer, of the Brooklyn Police Department, was seated in a revolving chair in front of his telephone board when his chair tilted to one side and nearly spilled him on the floor. On the top floor of the Municipal Building the shock: wave still more perceptible. The desks in the reporters' room were slightly tilted on end, and one heavy  ink well was overturned. The gas flickered and the chandelier swayed from side to side twice.

    Fulton-street, in the neighborhood of the City Hall, was crowded with people who had run out of the theatres and billiard rooms, in which the shock had been very noticeable. Several hundred people in the Park Theatre asserted that they felt the shock very plainly, and many of them left the house. In a house in Hancock-street, near Bedford-avenue, the parlor chandelier rattled over the heads or the occupants, who fled into the street, only to find their neighbors there before them.. The shock had been felt by all, and had dashed many fancy articles from cabinets to the floors. No cases of serious damage were reported to the police.

    The shock was distinctly felt in parts of New-Jersey. At Plainfield it occurred at 9:56 o'clock and lasted about two minutes. The vibrations were from north to south, beginning almost imperceptibly and augmenting until strong enough to swing chandeliers violently and cause the woodwork of brick houses to creak. The citizens were much alarmed. In Newark the shock was felt about 9:30 o’clock, and was most perceptible in the large factories, which were shaken violently.

    The earthquake was plainly felt in Jersey City. In the upper section of the city houses shook and the inmates were thoroughly frightened. No damage from the shock is reported.

(New York Times, 1 September 1886, page 1)