"Why is an Earthquake" Washington, D.C., Dec. 17. The old question "why is an earthquake," and many other geological mysteries important to man, are being probed by scientific gadgets such as the two pictured here at the Geological Laboratory of the Carnegie Institute. The scientists work and apparatus will be studied by geologists from all points of the country when the Geological Society of America meets in Washington December 28-30. Dr. J.F. Schairer, physical chemist of the laboratory is shown at the instrument panel of one of t he cylindrical electrical furnaces which generate heat up to 2100 degrees Fahrenheit, melting artificial rock in the study of crystallization or cooling of rocks from volcanoes. 12/17/37