hesitate to say: they were accustomed to see similar havoc created
nearly every year in one part of the Archipelago or the other by some
severe typhoon, accompanied by far greater loss of lives and property,
and consequently much more felt by the people than the destruction of
a church, _convento_, municipal building ("tribunal"), one or two
bridges, or other masonry structure.

In the present catalogue our aim has been to present all that is known
of the various violent and destructive earthquakes on record. The
first column of each page contains the ordinal number of the
disturbance for purposes of reference. In the second, the date is
given as accurately as it could be ascertained, Roman numerals being
used to designate the months. Unfortunately, of some earthquakes only
the year is known; of others, the year and month. Of one (No. 32) the
approximate hour has been recorded, but not the day of the month;
while of another (No. 38) the hour has been preserved for posterity,
but whether the phenomenon occurred during February or March, the
records leave undecided. In the third column will be found, in the
first place, the intensity of the disturbance, Roman numerals
representing the degrees of the scale of De Rossi-Forel (I-X); then
the region affected most, and finally the damages caused, if known,
and other information, if available.

In describing the epicentral regions, the present distribution of the
Archipelago into provinces has been used throughout the catalogue.
This division is shown on the first of the two maps of the Philippines
which accompany this catalogue (Plate I). As to the designation
"Benguet" occasionally occurring in the text where provinces are
enumerated, but not found on the map, we beg to offer the excuse that
the region thus named is exceedingly well known in the Philippines as