406 EFFECTS AT TALCAHUANO. Feb. 



short ; some, with their horses, were thrown to the ground : 

 others dismounted, but could not stand. So little was the 

 ground at rest after the great destruction, tliat between the 

 20th of February and the 4th of March, more than three hun- 

 dred shocks were counted. 



Much misery was alleviated by the good conduct and extreme 

 hospitality of the inhabitants of Concepcion. Mutual assistance 

 was every where rendered, and theft was almost unknown. The 

 higher classes immediately set people to work, to' build straw- 

 covered huts and temporary houses of board, Uving meanwhile 

 in the open air under trees. Those who soonest obtained or 

 contrived shelter, collected as many about them as they could 

 assist, and in a very few days all had a temporary shelter, under 

 which they tried to laugh at their misfortunes and the shifts to 

 which they were reduced. 



At Talcahuano the great earthquake was felt as severely on 

 the 20th February as in the city of Concepcion. It took place 

 at the same time, and in a precisely similar manner : three 

 houses only, upon a rocky foundation, escaped the fate of all 

 those standing upon the loose sandy soil, which lies between the 

 sea-beach and the hills. Nearly all the inhabitants escaped 

 uninjured ; but they had scarcely recovered from the sensations 

 of the ruinous shocks, when an alarm was given that the sea 

 was retiring ! Penco* was not forgotten ; apprehensive of an 

 overwhelming wave, they hurried to the hills as fast as possible. 



About half an hour after the shock, when the greater part 

 of the population had reached the heights, — the sea having 

 retired so much, that all the vessels at anchor, even those which 

 had been lying in seven fathoms water, were aground, and 

 every rock and shoal in the bay was visible, — an enormous 

 wave was seen forcing its way through the western passage 

 which separates Quiriquina Island from the mainland. This 

 terrific swell passed rapidly along the western side of the Bay 

 of Concepcion, sweeping the steep shores of every thing move- 

 able within thirty feet (vertically) from high water-mark. It 



* Penco, the first Spanish capital of the province of Concepcion, was 

 overwhelmed by the sea in 1730 : and old Concepcion in 1751. 



