EARTHQUAKE. 



borealis, meteors, &c. but as these are O ctober 28,1746, the anniversary of St, 



common appearances, they afford no just 

 cause of alarm, if a trembling of the earth 

 doth not very soon succeed. 



If the clear water of deep wells sudden- 

 ly becomes heated and impregnated with 

 soil, and an unusual stillness of the air 

 prevails, and cattle evince great restless- 

 ness and terror, well founded apprehen- 

 sions may be entertained of an approach- 

 ing earthquake, which will commence 

 with slight trembling motion, perceiva- 

 ble in the most fleshy parts of the body, 

 accompanied by a deep hollow sound, 

 indescribable, yet resembling distant 

 thunder, combined with the roar of nu- 

 merous cannons. The most violent and 

 dangerous shocks are undulatory, hori- 

 zontal, and perpendicular, the two latter 

 are most dreadful in their consequences, 

 by throwing down the strongest edifices, 

 and making those horrible chasms which 

 engulph every object within their boun- 

 daries, emit pestilential vapour, heated 

 water, sand, smoke, and flames: each 

 particular shock seldom exceeds a minute 

 in duration, but they often follow one ano- 

 ther with great rapidity. 



Such are the indications and peculiari- 

 ties attending earthquakes ; the follow- 

 ing short narratives of their consequen- 

 ces, in different places, will enable the 

 reader, who has happily escaped feeling, 

 to justly understand them. 



** There is no part of the world per- 

 haps so subject to earthquakes as Peru ; 

 nor any part of Peru more liable to them 

 than Lima and its neighbourhood. On 

 Monday, October 20, 1687, N. S. at 4 

 o'clock in the morning, there occurred a 

 most horrible earthquake, which threw 

 down some houses, and buried several 

 persons under their ruins. An hour af- 

 ter there was another shake, accompa- 

 nied with the same noise ; and at six 

 o'clock, when they thought they had 

 been all in safety, came a third shock, 

 with great fury and a rushing noise ; the 

 sea, with hideous roaring, swelled beyond 

 its bounds ; the bells rang of themselves ; 

 and the destruction was so great, that no 

 building was left standing. The noise 

 was so dreadful, says P. Alvarez de To- 

 ledo, (who sent the account from thence,) 

 that those in the fields assure us the cat- 

 tle were in great astonishment : he adds, 

 Callao, Canete, Pisco, Chaucay, and Los 

 Chorillos, are all ruined : above 5000 

 dead bodies are already found, and they 

 find more dairy." 



Lima was destroyed in the night of 



VOL. IV. 



Simon and St. Jude. "According to the 

 best regulated clocks and watches, this 

 fatal catastrophe befel the place thirty 

 minutes after ten at night ; on this occa- 

 sion the destruction did not so much as 

 give time for fright, for at one and the 

 same instant almost, the noise, the shock, 

 and the ruin, were perceived together ; 

 so that in the space only of four minutes, 

 during which the greatest force of the 

 earthquake lasted, some persons were 

 buried under the ruins of the falling 

 houses, and others crushed to death in, 

 the streets by the tumbling of the walls, 

 which, as they ran here and there, fell 

 upon them. The earth struck against 

 the edifices with such violent percussions, 

 that every shock beat down the greater 

 part of them ; and these tearing along 

 with them vast weights in their fall (espe- 

 cially the churches and high houses,) 

 completed the destruction of every thing 

 they encountered with, even of what the 

 earthquake had spared. The shocks, al- 

 though instantaneous, were yet succes- 

 sive ; and at intervals men were trans- 

 ported from one place to another, which 

 was the means of safety to some, whilst 

 the utter impossibility of moving preserv- 

 ed others." 



The second edition of Mr. Swinburne's 

 Travels in the Two Sicilies contains the 

 ensuing most affecting letter, written by a 

 person who witnessed the scenes he de- 

 scribed. 



" On the 5th of February, at 19 hours 

 and 3 quarters, we felt a shock that be- 

 gan by an upward heaving motion, which 

 gave the alarm, and time to most persons 

 to run out of their houses : some fled to 

 the windows and balconies ; others took 

 refuge under the arches of the doors. 

 This upright motion of the earth was soon 

 succeeded by shaking and rocking, dur- 

 ing which we beheld our houses tum- 

 bling on all sides. The walls and towers 

 of the castle were split asunder, and over- 

 turned upon the town ; the buildings be- 

 low were crushed to atoms, and 150 

 persons perished in this fall. At night a 

 considerable part of the inhabitants, 

 chiefly of the class of sailors, followed 

 the example of the prince, and repaired 

 to the beach ; they there pitched tents, 

 or lay down in their barks, hoping to 

 pass the night in perfect security at a dis- 

 tance from all buildings. The sky was 

 bright and serene, the sea lulled in a pro- 

 found calm, and all these poor people 

 were indulging in sweet sleep a short re- 



O o 



