A number of exceptions to this gradation of intensity are connected with tracts of deep alluvial soil, especially if saturated with water, and with tracts of 'made ground.' The great destruction in the low lying part of San Francisco, eight miles from the fault, is directly connected with the fact that much of the ground there is artificial, the area having been reclaimed from the bay by filling in with sand and other materials. The severity of the disaster at San Jose, twelve miles from the fault, has been ascribed to the deep alluvial soil on which the town stands, and many other local peculiarities seem to admit of the same explanation. It is necessary also to distinguish carefully between earthquake intensity and destructive effect, because injury to property was conditioned by mode and material of construction no less than by intensity of vibration. But after making due allowance for differences in natural foundation and for differences in the resisting power of buildings, there remain various anomalies for which satisfactory explanation has not as yet been found. The natural foundation of Oakland is similar to that of San Jose, and its distance from the earthquake
