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San Salvador's Terrible Quake 



In a twinkling of an eye a beautiful, 

 flourishing city became a rubbish heap 



By M. Toeplitz 



ON the 7th of June, 1917, seven minutes 

 before seven o'clock, the first indica- 

 tion of the coming catastrophe was 

 felt. Very soon after the first rumbling the 

 mortar crumbled from the walls, chairs and 

 tables started to dance and the electric 

 lights went out. The upper stairs of our 

 hotel crashed down and we were barely able 

 to reach the street. Here I was swept 

 along by a crazed mob bound for the park. 

 People fell on their knees and prayed aloud 

 for mercy. 



Houses collapsed on all sides like paper 

 boxes and the ground undulated like the 

 sea. The statue of Victory on the Plaza 

 was twisted about oddly, while the shocks 

 increased in strength and frequency. The 

 church towers of the Cathedral seemed to be 

 shaken by a gigantic hand and the huge 

 cross of the right steeple crashed down, 

 shattering the stone saints below. All the 

 bells clanged un- 

 cannily. 



Of all high edifices 

 the concrete building 

 of the Teatro Colon 

 alone remained un- 

 scathed. From the 

 Plazuella del Teatro 

 opposite the Teatro 

 Nacional there was a 

 wonderful view of 

 the volcano. The 

 last shock had ripped 

 open the mountain 

 side, and the sky had 

 turned scarlet. At 

 the same time the 

 acids in the Phar- 

 macia de la Cruz 

 Roja exploded, and 

 soon the entire sec- 

 tion was a sea of 

 flames. 



Towards 1 1 o'clock 

 it began to rain 

 ashes, first in a fine 

 shower and then in a 

 thick downpour so 

 that walking was 

 most difficult. Half 



The Statue of 

 Victory in a very 

 Pisa-like attitude 



an hour later real rain fell, and everything 



became covered with a horrible sticky mud. 



During the 8th and 9th of June the 



population suffered 



For many miles the railroad tracks were 

 covered with lava, thus completely shut- 

 ting off the city from the rest of the world 



741 



greatly from lack of 

 food and water. The 

 shocks continued and 

 terrible thunder- 

 storms broke loose. 

 Torrents of water 

 entered the cracks in 

 the broken walls and 

 finished the destruc- 

 tion. 



The Government 

 took charge from the 

 first and deserves 

 great praise for 

 promptness and ef- 

 ficiency. Martial law 

 was declared and in a 

 short time perfect 

 order was restored. 



For many miles 

 the railroad tracks to 

 Ajacuntal were cov- 

 ered with lava so 

 that traffic was 

 blocked for many 

 weeks. 



Thousands left the 

 city, but many 

 camped on the ruins. 



