SHATTERED CAPITALS OF CENTRAL AMERICA 



187 



indications of this. In the case of San 

 Salvador the earthquake doubtless oc- 

 curred as a result of the eruption of the 

 lava and the spectacular activity in the 

 old crater that followed it. 



WHERE MISERY AXD MADNESS RElGXED 



From the vivid story sent to the 

 National Geographic Society by Mrs. 

 Martha Toeplitz, I quote as follows : 



"It is Corpus Christi day in Salva- 

 dor's beautiful and flourishing capital. 

 Churches and dwellings are decorated 

 and the streets filled with a throng in 

 festal mood. The procession approaches, 

 led by a band of musicians fiddling and 

 scraping away in truly Southern fashion. 

 "White-clad maidens, with wreaths of 

 flowers and veils flowing in the soft, 

 warm breezes, priests and choir boys, the 

 images of saints borne aloft, and the 

 people — the typical 'festa' crowd. 



''Suddenly rumbling and grumbling 

 below, darkness, crashing walls, cries 

 and screams from the panic - stricken 

 people. What a never-to-be-forgotten 

 contrast! The bright sky, the festa, the 

 pretty homes and gay shops, the fruit of 

 years of labor and industry wiped out in 

 less time than it takes to tell. 



"Where there was peace and happi- 

 ness, misery and madness reign, and 

 the earth, breathing heavily, shakes as 

 though she wished to rid herself of all 

 man-made ballast. Edifices crumble like, 

 packs of cards, showers of brick sweep 

 the air, dull thuds and terrible crashes, 

 screams and prayers for mercy, and with 

 it all the wild, uncanny song of the 

 church bells. 



"The world seems to have come to an 

 end and Hell opens her gates. A new 

 crater suddenly forms on the mountain 

 side, acids explode in the drugstores, 

 mains break, and the town, quivering in 

 every limb and stone, becomes a sea of 

 flame. 



"In vain do the bells chime in broken 

 towers : in vain the tears and prayers ! 

 The quakes increase in violence till not a 

 house remains standing, and a hundred 

 red tongues of fire lick the ruins in mad 

 fury. 



"Everything is broken, shattered, and 

 burned ; but the furious elements are not 

 yet appeased. Terrific thunder-storms 



beat down upon the helpless people hud- 

 dled together in the park, enter every 

 hole and crack, and destroy whatever 

 the earthquake and fire have left. 



"Days and nights follow without food 

 or shelter, until very, very slowly the 

 quakes become more infrequent." 



The first shock at San Salvador came 

 without warning, at 6.50 p. m., June 7, 

 19 1 7. Although this quake was felt 

 throughout a large part of Central Amer- 

 ica and was recorded on the scrolls of 

 seismographs in the United States, it was 

 not the one that did the most serious 

 damage in that city. It appears, how- 

 ever, to have been responsible for the 

 opening of the lava vents on the side of 

 the volcano opposite that on which the 

 capital is situated. 



HOW THE SHOCKS BEGAN 



The first shock was followed at inter- 

 vals of ten minutes by two others which 

 drove the entire population of the city 

 into the streets and open squares. 



Then at 9.05 came the heavy shock 

 which caused the greater part of the de- 

 struction in San Salvador. An hour or 

 so before this time the sky had been 

 illuminated by the outpouring of liquid 

 stone from the new vents, and it is not 

 impossible that a slumping of the earth's 

 crust under the city itself resulted from 

 the release of pressure after a large 

 quantity of lava had run off. 



At this time a pounding sensation un- 

 der foot was noted, as well as a horizontal 

 wave movement, and cracks are said to 

 have opened and closed. 



Many persons declare they heard 

 sounds of rushing water and some aver 

 that the water-level in wells rose and 

 sank. But it is too much to ask for 

 steady nerves and scientifically exact ob- 

 servations when the earth shakes at night 

 and the lights go out, when the air is 

 filled with shrieks and prayers and chok- 

 ing dust, and when in the dark the heavy 

 tiles cascade from the roofs and the walls 

 sway and fall. 



It is capable of proof, however, that 

 temperatures under the earth's crust near 

 San Salvador were greatly increased. 

 Artesian wells heinc; dusf on the Finca 

 Modelo showed at first an increased 

 water pressure and later an increased 



