§2.8#2καὶ ἔαρος δὲ καὶ μετοπώρου μάλιστα καὶ ἐν ἐπομβρίαις καὶ ἐν αὐχμοῖς γίγνονται διὰ τὴν αὐτὴν αἰτίαν· αἵ τε γὰρ ὧραι αὗται πνευματωδέσταται·
And earthquakes occur especially in spring and autumn, and during rainy seasons and droughts, for the same reason; for these seasons are the most windy.
τὸ γὰρ θέρος καὶ ὁ χειμών, τὸ μὲν διὰ τὸν πάγον, τὸ δὲ διὰ τὴν ἀλέαν ποιεῖ τὴν ἀκινησίαν· τὸ μὲν γὰρ ἄγαν ψυχρόν, τὸ δ᾿ ἄγαν ξηρόν ἐστι·
For summer and winter produce immobility—the one because of the frost, the other because of the heat; for the one is excessively cold, and the other excessively dry.
καὶ ἐν μὲν τοῖς αὐχμοῖς πνευματώδης ὁ ἀήρ· τοῦτο γὰρ αὐτό ἐστιν ὁ αὐχμός, ὅταν πλείων ἡ ἀναθυμίασις ἡ ξηρὰ γίγνηται τῆς ὑγρᾶς·
And during droughts the air is windy; for drought is precisely this—when the dry exhalation is greater than the wet.
ἐν δὲ ταῖς ὑπερομβρίαις πλείω τε ποιεῖ τὴν ἐντὸς ἀναθυμίασιν, καὶ τῷ ἐναπολαμβάνεσθαι ἐν στενοτέροις τόποις καὶ ἀποβιάζεσθαι εἰς ἐλάττω τόπον τὴν τοιαύτην ἀπόκρισιν, πληρουμένων τῶν κοιλιῶν ὕδατος, ὅταν ἄρξηται κρατεῖν διὰ τὸ πολὺ εἰς ὀλίγον πιληθῆναι τόπον, ἰσχυρῶς κινεῖ ῥέων ὁ ἄνεμος καὶ προσπίπτων·
But during excessive rains, it both produces more of the internal exhalation, and because such secretion is trapped in narrower places and forced into a smaller space as the hollows are filled with water—whenever, compressed into a small space, it begins to dominate because of its great quantity, the wind, flowing and striking, moves with great force.
δεῖ γὰρ νοεῖν ὅτι ὥσπερ ἐν τῷ σώματι ἡμῶν καὶ τρόμων καὶ σφυγμῶν αἴτιόν ἐστιν ἡ τοῦ πνεύματος ἐναπολαμβανομένη δύναμις, οὕτω καὶ ἐν τῇ γῇ τὸ πνεῦμα παραπλήσιον ποιεῖν, καὶ τὸν μὲν τῶν σεισμῶν οἷον τρόμον εἶναι τὸν δ᾿ οἷον σφυγμόν, καὶ καθάπερ συμβαίνει πολλάκις μετὰ τὴν οὔρησιν (διὰ τοῦ σώματος γὰρ γίγνεται ὥσπερ τρόμος τις ἀντιμεθισταμένου τοῦ πνεύματος ἔξωθεν εἴσω ἀθρόου), τοιαῦτα γίγνεσθαι καὶ περὶ τὴν γῆν.
For we must conceive that, just as in our own bodies the cause of both shivers and throbbings is the power of the wind trapped inside, so also in the earth the wind produces a similar effect, and one kind of earthquake is like a shiver, and another like a throb; and just as it often happens after urination (for a kind of shiver runs through the body as the wind shifts suddenly from outside inwards), so such things also happen in the earth.
ὅσην δ᾿ ἔχει τὸ πνεῦμα δύναμιν, οὐ μόνον ἐκ τῶν ἐν τῷ ἀέρι δεῖ θεωρεῖν γιγνομένων (ἐνταῦθα μὲν γὰρ διὰ τὸ μέγεθος ὑπολάβοι τις ἂν τοιαῦτα δύνασθαι ποιεῖν) ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν τοῖς σώμασι τοῖς τῶν ζῴων·
How great a power the wind has should be observed not only from what happens in the air (for there, because of the magnitude, one might suppose it is capable of producing such effects) but also in the bodies of animals.
οἵ τε γὰρ τέτανοι καὶ οἱ σπασμοὶ πνεύματος μέν εἰσιν κινήσεις, τοσαύτην δὲ ἔχουσιν ἰσχὺν ὥστε πολλοὺς ἅμα πειρωμένους ἀποβιάζεσθαι μὴ δύνασθαι κρατεῖν τῆς κινήσεως τῶν ἀρρωστούντων.
For tetanus and spasms are movements of wind, and they have such strength that many people trying together to overcome them cannot control the movement of the patients.
τοιοῦτον δὴ δεῖ νοεῖν τὸ γιγνόμενον καὶ ἐν τῇ γῇ, ὡς εἰκάσαι πρὸς μικρὸν μεῖζον.
We must, then, conceive what happens in the earth to be of this kind, comparing a small thing to a larger one.
σημεῖα δὲ τούτων καὶ πρὸς τὴν ἡμετέραν αἴσθησιν πολλαχῇ γέγονεν· ἤδη γὰρ σεισμὸς ἐν τόποις τισὶν γιγνόμενος οὐ πρότερον ἔληξε πρὶν ἐκρήξας εἰς τὸν ὑπὲρ τῆς γῆς τόπον φανερῶς ὥσπερ ἐκνεφίας ἐξῆλθεν ὁ κινήσας ἄνεμσς, οἷον καὶ περὶ Ἡράκλειαν ἐγένετο τὴν ἐν τῷ Πόντῳ νεωστί, καὶ πρότερον περὶ τὴν Ἱερὰν νῆσον (αὕτη δ᾿ ἐστὶν μία τῶν Αἰόλου καλουμένων νήσων)·
And signs of these things have occurred in many ways to our own perception; for indeed, an earthquake occurring in certain places did not cease until the wind that caused the movement burst out into the region above the earth and came forth visibly like a hurricane, as happened recently around Heracleia in Pontus, and earlier around the island of Hiera (which is one of the islands called the islands of Aeolus).
ἐν ταύτῃ γὰρ ἀνῴδει τι τῆς γῆς, καὶ ἀνῄει οἷον λοφώδης ὄγκος μετὰ ψόφου· τέλος δὲ ῥαγέντος ἐξῆλθεν πνεῦμα πολὺ καὶ τὸν φέψαλον καὶ τὴν τέφραν ἀνῆκεν καὶ τήν τε Λιπαραίων πόλιν οὖσαν οὐ πόρρω πᾶσαν κατετέφρωσε καὶ εἰς ἐνίας τῶν ἐν Ἰταλίᾳ πόλεων ἦλθεν· καὶ νῦν ὅπου τὸ ἀναφύσημα τοῦτο ἐγένετο, δῆλόν ἐστιν.
For on this island a part of the earth swelled up and rose with a noise like a hill-shaped mass; and finally, when it ruptured, a great deal of wind came out and threw up sparks and ashes, and completely covered with ash the city of the Liparaeans, which was not far off, and even reached some of the cities in Italy; and where this eruption took place is still evident today.
καὶ γὰρ δὴ τοῦ γιγνομένου πυρὸς ἐν τῇ γῇ ταύτην οἰητέον εἶναι τὴν αἰτίαν, ὅταν κοπτόμενον ἐκπρησθῇ πρῶτον εἰς μικρὰ κερματισθέντος τοῦ ἀέρος.
Indeed, we must suppose this to be the cause of the fire that arises in the earth, when, the air being first broken up into small particles, it is struck and catches fire.
τεκμήριον δ᾿ ἐστὶ τοῦ ῥεῖν ὑπὸ γῆν τὰ πνεύματα καὶ τὸ γιγνόμενον περὶ ταύτας τὰς νήσους· ὅταν γὰρ ἄνεμος μέλλῃ πνευσεῖσθαι νότος, προτοῖς σημαίνει πρότερον·
A proof that the winds flow under the earth is also what happens around these islands; for when a south wind is about to blow, there is a prior sign.
ἠχοῦσι γὰρ οἱ τόποι ἐξ ὧν γίγνεται τὰ ἀναφυσήματα, διὰ τὸ τὴν θάλατταν μὲν προωθεῖσθαι ἤδη πόρρωθεν, ὑπὸ δὲ ταύτης τὸ ἐκ τῆς γῆς ἀναφυσώμενον ἀπωθεῖσθαι πάλιν εἴσω, ᾗπερ ἐπέρχεται ἡ θάλαττα ταύτῃ.
For the places from which the eruptions occur resound, because the sea is already being driven forward from afar, and by it that which is erupting from the earth is pushed back inside again, at the very place where the sea comes on.
ποιεῖ δὲ ψόφον ἄνευ σεισμοῦ διά τε τὴν εὐρυχωρίαν τῶν τόπων (ὑπερχεῖται γὰρ εἰς τὸ ἀχανὲς ἔξω) καὶ δι᾿ ὀλιγότητα τοῦ ἀπωθουμένου ἀέρος.
And it produces a sound without an earthquake both because of the spaciousness of the places (for it overflows into the vast space outside) and because of the small quantity of the air that is pushed back.
ἔτι τὸ γίγνεσθαι τὸν ἥλιον ἀχλυώδη καὶ ἀμαυρότερον ἄνευ νέφους, καὶ πρὸ τῶν ὀρθρίων σεισμῶν ἐνίοτε νηνεμίαν τε καὶ κρύος ἰσχυρόν, σημεῖον τῆς εἰρημένης αἰτίας ἐστίν.
Moreover, the sun becoming misty and dimmer without any cloud, and the occurrence sometimes of calm and strong cold before morning earthquakes, is a sign of the cause we have mentioned.
τόν τε γὰρ ἥλιον ἀχλυώδη καὶ ἀμαυρὸν ἀναγκαῖον εἶναι ὑπονοστεῖν ἀρχομένου τοῦ πνεύματος εἰς τὴν γῆν τοῦ διαλύοντος τὸν ἀέρα καὶ διακρίνοντος, καὶ πρὸς τὴν ἕω καὶ περὶ τοὺς ὄρθρους νηνεμίαν τε καὶ ψῦχος.
For it is necessary that the sun should be misty and dim when the wind which dissolves and disperses the air begins to retreat into the earth, and that there should be calm and cold towards dawn and about daybreak.