208 



THE A ME /IK 'AX MUSEUM JOUILXAL 



lifted a scc-oik) time iindei- our feet, 

 jerked Ijaek and forth, and all Imt upset 

 lis. Buildings crashed down, wires 

 short-circuited, and a cliokiiiL;- dust 

 again filled the air. 



In view of the fact that their homes 

 were heing shaken down almost about 

 their heads, the inhabitants were sur- 

 prisingly calm. I, saw very little hys- 

 teria and no disorder. The Indians 

 fell on their knees when the second 

 shock started, and l)egan to pray. 

 Lighted tapers were produced from 

 somewhere and the drone of many 

 prayers came from all sides. This sec- 

 ond shock was far more severe than the 

 lii-st. and was the one which really de- 

 stroyed the city. Subsequent shocks 

 only Ijrought down previously cracked 

 and loosened walls. There followed an 

 interval of minor quivers until ten min- 

 utes past two in the morning, when the 

 third and last great movement of that 

 long night shook the city, bringing 

 down many more houses. 



We all underestimated the damage 

 that night. In the darkness there at 

 the ])laza we could see and hear only a 

 small part of the destruction going for- 

 ward, and it seemed that the city was 

 weathering the assault fairly well. But 

 dawn undeceived us as to the true con- 

 dition of affairs. Guatemala City was 

 in ruins. 



I had been in San Salvador a week 

 after the earthquake of June T, and the 

 destruction there was nothing compared 

 with this. To Ije sure Guatemala is 

 twice as large as San Salvador, but 

 relatively, as well as actually, the de- 

 struction was greater. ]\Iy first walks 

 through the city showed that the streets 

 were filled with the debris of fallen 

 houses, tiles, bricks, plaster, adobe; fa- 

 cades were ri\en l)y tremendous cracks; 

 interiors were exposed to view, the inti- 

 mate details of the home opened to the 

 curious ; walls leaned at perilous angles ; 

 roofs hung l)y single l)eams; a tangle 

 of wires draped the telephone poles; 

 and everywhere ^^eople were huddled in 



the streets waiting, waiting, waiting. 

 Later in the day it was possible to learn 

 further details of the catastrojjbe. 

 liailroad and telegraphic communica- 

 tion with both the Atlantic and I*acific 

 coasts was cut. Indeed it was not until 

 forty-eight hours later that the first 

 news of the disaster left the stricken 

 city. 



hi the shocks of Christmas night 

 al)Out seventy persons were killed. 

 mostly in the poorer quartei's where the 

 ))uilding construction was of adolie 

 bi'ick. of very inferior type, which ci-uiu- 

 ])led like a bouse of cards. Considering 

 the amount of damage done to the 

 houses, the loss of life was sui'jiris- 

 ingly low. That it was not biuher. 

 may be laid to the fact that the first 

 shock, although it drove everyone out 

 of doors, actually brought few bouses 

 down. 



The government at once took the sit- 

 uation in hand. Martial law was de- 

 clared. Emergency tent dispensaries 

 and hospitals were estal)lished in all 

 ])arts of the city, and the free distrilni- 

 tion of food (corn and l)eans) w^as 

 l)egun. Business ceased while the peo- 

 ]ile took up the work of moving their 

 lares and penates into the streets. ])arks. 

 squares, plazas, and open lots al)out the 

 city. Wooden sheds were erected in the 

 Plaza de Armas, and here the govern- 

 ment dei)artments. l)anks. and drug 

 stores opened temporary oifices. Gradu- 

 ally confidence returned ; slight tremors 

 continued but nothing violent; jiciiile 

 ventured again into their homes to sal- 

 vage their belongings from the wreck- 

 age — and then fell the next blow. 



At two o'clock on the afternoon of 

 December 29 the fourth heavy eartb- 

 (|ua]<e shook the city. This time the 

 motion was horizontal, not vertical as 

 in the ease of the preceding three, and 

 in consequence many more walls top- 

 pled over. And also because it was in 

 the daytime, and peo))le were in the 

 houses, more were killed than on ( *brist- 

 mas nisht. It is estimated that more 



