EARTHQUAKES IN CHILE. 521 



are inevitably to be subjected; and its architecture must necessarily be national, for it would be 



(lilliciilt to adopt kin.u n ^n-at systems without much rialc. Without thin we nhall not advance 



l'\ tniiiHliii'_r a school of architecture. 



It woull IR- well it' the faculty of mathematics would offer premiums during five or six years 

 for the best essays on this subject, for thus civilization <-nri< -IH-H u country. 



Three slight shocks have been felt since the great earthquake. 



The streets were obstructed by the destroyed materials encountered in every direction; and 

 the population are moving about, examining them, with a mixture of curiosity and fear visible 

 on every face. 



[From " El Progreso " of April 3.] 



Yesterday we published such an account as could be gathered in the confusion of the first 

 moments, and which will have given to our readers distant from Santiago a sufficiently distinct 

 idea of the power of the earthquake and the injuries it caused. It would be grateful had we 

 terminated an account of its effects, but new facts demand relation a sorrowful duty which 

 journalists fulfil in like cases. 



The destruction was greater without the city, in the surrounding country; and beyond a 

 doubt, by reason of their isolation, the country houses have doubly suffered. The superb man- 

 sions on the estate of Don J. M. Solar, at Colina, are almost completely destroyed. The same 

 may be said of those belonging to Senores Tagle, Bruno Larrain, J. M. Bascunan, the younger 

 Izquierdos, the property of Apoquindo (belonging to the Dominican friars), and perhaps to 

 many others whom we do not know. In cases like the present, one receives notice only of the 

 misfortunes occurring to those with whom intercourse exists. It scarcely appears necessary to 

 say that the enclosures of all these estates have sufferedjjonsiderably, it having been impossible 

 for them to resist after the houses had fallen. 



At Kenca, and about the lake of Pudaiiel, a phenomenon occurred which is seen only during 

 great commotions like that of yesterday: the earth opened, pouring out streams of water from 

 rents in several places. 



Earthquakes may be the effects of electricity, subterranean fires, and of gases (vapores) heated 

 by these fires. These causes operate alone or combined, and have power in each locality accord- 

 ing to the physical formation of the country. 



Humboldt says, in Mexico it is observed that earthquakes are more frequent in rainy years, 

 it thus appearing natural to believe that heated steam occasions the phenomenon there. In 

 Chile, as the earthquakes usually occur when the stars are extraordinarily brilliant, it may 

 be supposed that electricity engenders them. There is no part of the republic where the electric 

 power is so great as in Copiapo, nor is there any place where earthquakes are so frequently 

 repeated. 



If we were permitted to venture an opinion upon a question comprehended by us very imper- 

 fectly, we should say that the circumstance of the earth having opened at two points, consid- 

 erably distant from each other, would authorize us to presume that the earthquake of yester- 

 day was produced by a combination of electricity with the subterranean fires. These ques- 

 tions, so interesting to science, will surely be illustrated by the superior capacity of the chief 

 of the astronomical observatory, the modest and profound sabio, Mr. Gilliss. 



Meanwhile we will pursue the painful task undertaken by us. Among the misfortunes occa- 

 sioned, certainly the most affecting are those which bring tears among families for the loss of 

 parent, child, or friend. To those announced yesterday fortunately we have little to add. 



Sefior Serrano, judge of the criminal court, had the misfortune to lose a lovely daughter by 

 the falling of a tile ; and it is stated that his wife also was very gravely injured. We grieve 

 for his misfortune. 



66 



