SHATTERED CAPITALS OF CENTRAL AMERICA 



197 



The volcano of Santa Ana was espe- 

 cially violent in the sixteenth century. 

 For the year 1643 an eruption is accred- 

 ited to San Vicente. In 1844 a g reat 

 lava flow, analogous to the recent one of 

 San Salvador, broke out of the volcano 

 of San Miguel. But the most romantic 

 story is that of the formation of Izalco 

 volcano in historic times. 



a flashing volcano which acts as a 

 lighthouse: 



This cinder-covered peak, nearly five 

 thousand feet high, has built itself up 

 from what was level plain at the base of 

 Santa Ana volcano in 1770. 



During its long periods of activity 

 Izalco throws up clouds of smoke and 

 steam in great puffs, lit from below by 

 the flame in the crater. These clouds 

 rise high above the volcano and scarcely 

 dissolve before others take their place. 

 From this flashing effect, which can be 

 seen far at sea, the volcano is known 

 along the coast as the lighthouse of Cen- 

 tral America. 



John L. Stephens, in his inimitable 

 journals, describes a view of the activi- 

 ties of Izalco in 1840: 



"We came out suddenly upon an open 

 front, higher than the top of the vol- 

 cano, commanding a view of the interior 

 of the crater, and so near it that we saw 

 the large stones as they separated in the 

 air and fell pattering around the sides 

 of the volcano. In a few minutes our 

 clothes were white with ashes, which fell 

 around us with a noise like the sprink- 

 ling of rain. 



eruptions at regular intervals 



"The crater has three orifices, one of 

 which was inactive ; another emitted con- 

 stantly a rich blue smoke ; and after a 

 report deep in the huge throat of the 

 third, appeared a light-blue vapor, and 

 then a mass of thick black smoke, whirl- 

 ing and struggling out in enormous 

 wreaths and rising in a dark, majestic 

 column, lighted for a moment by a sheet 

 of flame ; and when the smoke dispersed, 

 the atmosphere was darkened by a 

 shower of stones and ashes. 



"This over, a moment of stillness fol- 

 lowed, and then another report and erup- 



tion, and these continued regularly, at 

 intervals, as our guide said, of exactly 

 five minutes, and really he was not much 

 out of the way. The sight was fearfully 

 grand." 



Salvador has many fine lakes that oc- 

 cupy craters. Of these Lake Ilopango is 

 perhaps the most interesting to the trav- 

 eler. Lake Cojutepeque, with its sheer 

 walls, is situated in the flanks of the 

 great volcano of Santa Ana, which has 

 been scarred and scored by so many wars 

 of the giants. 



Lake Guija, on the boundary between 

 Salvador and Guatemala, was formed 

 by a lava dam from an eruption of San 

 Diego volcano. Stories are current of 

 towns submerged beneath its waters. 

 The level of the lake is sufficiently above 

 the level of the old valley to offer great 

 possibilities of water-power below the 

 lava dam. 



THE CHRISTMAS EARTHQUAKE IN 



GUATEMALA 



The series of earthquakes culminating 

 in the heavy shocks that destroyed Guate- 

 mala City began on November 17, 191 7, 

 with a shock centering in the region of 

 Lake Amatitlan. A large part of the 

 town of Amatitlan was then thrown 

 down. From this date on the trembling 

 of the earth was continuous, from ten to 

 thirty light quakes being recorded every 

 day. Naturally the populace became 

 more or less hardened to them, but there 

 was much uneasiness concerning the out- 

 come. 



The first disastrous earthquake fell on 

 Christmas night, at about 10.20. It did 

 considerable damage and served as a 

 strong warning, which doubtless saved 

 many lives, for at 11.23 came an ex- 

 tremely heavy shock, which brought 

 down many houses and killed, perhaps, 

 fifty persons. 



All night, with a full moon in the un- 

 troubled sky, the populace huddled in 

 parks while the earth trembled. 



On December 29, in the afternoon, a 

 heavy vibration again ran through the 

 shaken city, and more walls fell. At 

 10.40 p. m., on January 3. a long and 

 heavy shock brought down the towers of 

 the cathedral and many other landmarks. 



