528 EARTHQUAKES IN CHILE. 



By the news which arrived from various points in the country it seems that the shock has 

 caused greater damages there than in the city. There is no house which was not left in a ruin- 

 ous condition or thrown wholly to the ground, even those of the poor, constructed of the lightest 

 materials. This is contrary to the opinion of those who helieve that flexible materials are the 

 most suitable for resisting earthquakes. 



In Santiago the only houses which have withstood all the great shocks since the past century 

 are those built of brick and mortar and supported by arches. Although the mint has suffered 

 much this time, it is not strange, for the repairs recently made to the edifice have contributed 

 to take from its solidity, and it is in the mended portion that the injuries have been the great- 

 est. It is not in Chile alone that the earth trembles ; few are the parts of the earth where the 

 phenomenon is not known ; and it was not because of earthquakes that a flexible style of archi- 

 tecture was adopted, for it is a well known fact that the more solid a house is, the greater is its 

 resistance to them. A proof of it is at Arequipa, where there are constant shocks, and there 

 all the houses are of heavy materials. 



The devil himself would scarcely have proposed houses of adobes, as some have done, recom- 

 mending them for their flexibility, as if flexibility were not the cause of ruin to the roofs, 

 which are broken with the slightest shock, whilst they would remain intact on solidly built 

 walls. 



[From the " Comercio" of April 5, 1851.] 



Alarm still continues, as is very natural. Yesterday there were slight shocks, which were 

 repeated with greater force at two o'clock this morning. Last night a mist began about half- 

 past eleven ; at one it was converted into a storm, and rain fell copiously, accompanied with 

 thunder and lightning. This morning it began to rain again, and still continues. 



Families who took refuge on the adjacent hills must have suffered considerably from the 

 storm. They were not prepared for the new event, and will have confided too much in the 

 benignity of the climate or the regularity of the rainy season, thus anticipated, perhaps, by 

 effect of the earthquake. The plaza Victoria was yesterday filled with tents containing a multi- 

 tude of people. Some had been fitted with furniture and carpets, increasing the inconveniences 

 when it became necessary to seek other shelter from the wind and rain. There was one tent 

 that sheltered thirty persons, who immediately sought refuge in the theatre and the neighboring 

 houses. 



Besides these misfortunes the roofs of many houses in the Port allow entrance to the water, 

 and most of the warehouses have experienced great injury by wetting of the goods they contain. 

 The same has occurred at the custom-house. Stored goods have been exposed to water dripping 



from the roofs injured by the earthquakes. 



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See also some papers for an account of earthquakes in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. 



[From "El Faro del Maule," Talca, of April 2.] 



At three quarters past six this morning we experienced a strong and prolonged earthquake. 

 A few walls were cracked, but no building was thrown down by the shock. 



[From "El Talquino," Talca.] 



On the second instant, at twenty-five minutes past six in the morning, we experienced a 

 severe movement of the earth, whose duration was not less than forty seconds. There are no 



