The Guatemala Earthquake 



iy S V I. \- A N I S (i 1,' 



CiirufKii- Iii^lilulion. 



I s w (> L i> .M ( M.' L I-: ^ 



\\ii-liiiii;t<in, I). ('. 



Tl I l:i( I-:. Mild c.'kIi tilllr liii'iilr.l 

 III .1 tlilVcrciil >|tiil. till' ciiitiliil 

 <>{ (liiiiti'inal.i li;i> Itcfii tli'- 

 .-trnyt'il liy fartlu|iiak('.- : in l"iM. in 

 ITT;!. iiMil lastly in tlw rccriit >li()cl<> df 

 Chri.-tinas wcrk. 1!'1T. 



Clo-c itji til I'liiir ri'iitiirio ai;i>. in 

 ].">*.' I. I'rijri) ill' Al\ aiMiln. a raptain nf 

 llrniaml'i ('nrtrz. tlir intr('|iiil rmi- 

 t|iu'ri»r itl" Mrxicit. lu'iu-t rali-il tlii> n- 

 ^'ioii I'lT till' lirst tinii'. anil !iriiUL;iit it 

 uinli'f tile liamiiT ol" t In- K ini;' ol' Spain : 

 anil in 1 ")•.'? his lirutlicr. .lor;i:i' Alva- 

 railn. JDUiiili'iI tin- (irst capital of tlir 

 iirw Kiniiilitni nj' (luatcmala in tlir 

 >iiiiliiii; xallry of tin- Pandioy at tlir 

 very liaM' dl" tin- lofty Milraim of Ai^na. 



In >pit(' of its sitnnrous tillr. "Santi- 

 airo <li" los Cahallcrns ilc (Juatrniala"" 

 (Saint .lanii's of llir (irntlrnirn of 

 (iuatrinala ). this \\v>\ city of the name 

 was ilotincil to a .-liort life On the 

 iiiirht of ScjitcmlxT In. I'lll. after 

 sonic ilays of excessive rainfall, there 

 was felt a pfojon^rt*'! and violent iiio\e- 

 inent of tlu' earth, and inmiediatt'ly 

 thereafter the city was deliiired hy a 

 torn-iit of water, iiiiid. and rocks, whicli. 

 rnshiiiii- down the side of the voh-ano of 

 A^rna. tilled the city's streets, destroyed 

 its houses, and killed many of its inhah- 

 itants. In this calamity many jieople 

 of the city, iiicludinij Beatrix de la 

 Ciieva. the widow of the Adelantado 

 and his successor in the rule of the 

 kinjjfdom. lost their lives, 'i'he Adelan- 

 tada was drowned in the private clia|)el 

 of her own home whither .-he had tied 

 with twelve of her ladies-in-wait iiiLi to 

 escape the rushiiijr waters. 



'rhi> e\cnt cast a |)rofoii!id hIooim 

 over the >urvivors. and the following: 

 year the new capital, the second city of 

 "Santia«ro de lo.'^ f'ahalleros de (iuate- 

 mala." was fotinded in the same vallev 



lull aliollt one llliji' ;|||d ;| |ial f ea>t of 



the old jocii inn. 1 Ii;ii i-. f;irl her a\\a\ 

 from t lie lia>e of t he \o|(iiii(i. .\iid all 

 that now reniaiii> of the llr>t ca|>ital i> 

 a eriinihliiiL:' ruin said to have hecn the 

 house of hona iicatriz. The >ite was 

 not eiitireK aliaiidoiird. Imwexer. and a 

 Miiall \illai:e ealled La ('iiidad \'ieja. 

 The Old City, has >iiice i^row n up I here. 

 1 11 t inie the new capital hecaiiie t he 

 nio.-t ma^Miiliceiit and popnlou- eit \ in 

 ('eiitral America. Iiaxiiii:' as many a> 

 sixty thousand inhahitants hy the mid- 

 dle of the ei,i:litecntli century, and more 

 than lifty eliiirelie.-. iiioiia>terie.-. and 

 con\ent>. The l-"raiiei>(;]n>. honiini- 



cails. ( 'apllchi ll>. .Ie>iii|>. IJeeollect-. 



and of the sistci-lioods. tlio>c of Santa 

 'i'heresa and Santa Clara, all had lar.<re 

 and .-pleiidid e>talili>limeiit> in thecitv. 

 the i-iiins of which still excite the live- 

 liot admiration. And all of this en- 



te!'pri>e ill tile faceid' repeated di.-eour- 



a,::('iiieni.- on the part of nature, for the 

 earthipiakes continued at frcipieiit in- 

 tervals. Indeed the histoi-y of the si-c- 

 ond city of Saint .lames of the (ientle- 

 nicii is one loiiM series of ilisa>lrous 



shock.-: I. ■)(;.'). ]')]:>. iriTc. Iot; (two). 

 loSti. jtwi:. n;:)]. ice.;;. iii::t. icsi. 

 Kis;?. icsi. I (is;, icsi). iTo-j. i:i:. 



irii). i::.l. i::.:. l :(-.:). and four dur- 

 Iiil;- the hitter half id' 1 TT."!. 



This last hlow of fate, four shocks 

 within a six-month (two even on the 

 same day), was loo much foi- the loui: 

 sutrcriiii:" citizen.-, and after main 

 stormy ses-iim.- id' the city council, tlie\ 

 linally decided to move the capital a 

 second lime. In fa\or of this chanijfe 

 were the ci\il and military authorities: 

 oppOM'd. Wei'c the ecclesiastics. Both 

 the .-ecular clerjfy and the monastic or- 

 ders had too heavy an investment in 

 churches and \a.-t coineiitiial estahlish- 



21 > I 



