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heavy earthquake partially destroyed the village of San 
Martin, a few miles from Ouezaltenango. Between that date 
and April 18th, no sign or warning whatever was given of 
the fearful disaster which was to follow. Ouezaltenango 
was then a bright busy little town of some 25,000 inhabitants, 
possessed of many fine buildings built of stone and two stories 
in height. 
At 8-20 p.m. on the 18th of April the first movements of 
the earthquake began. Then there came a series of tremen- 
dous vertical jolts, lasting for half a minute. At the time 
the Lecturer was reading in his room on the first floor of the 
house. When the heavy jolting began the electric light went 
out, due to the overturning of the plant at the generating 
station, and it was impossible to see the damage done. 
One does not keep a very clear recollection of what exactly 
happens at such moments, but the Lecturer remembered the 
fearful noise that accompanied the disaster, caused by the 
collapse of buildings. He was almost choked by a cloud of 
dust caused by the falling walls. The door of his room was 
jammed by a fallen wall, but after some minutes of suspense 
he was released by the stable boy. On the following 
morning he found he had had a very narrow escape ; the light 
shewed that his room had been completely wrecked and a 
large piece of statutary from the adjoining room had been 
flung into the very centre of his room through an opening in 
the wall. 
The scene outside was one of utter confusion. Owing to 
the darkness and the thick pall of dust under which the 
town lay, nothing could be seen. The shocks were incessant. 
About 150 occurred during the 24 hours. In the morning 
the full magnitude of the disaster became apparent. No 
one who has not witnessed a catastrophe of this kind can 
fully realize what it means. On the evening of the 18th the 
sun went down on a beautiful and prosperous little town, full 
of the hopes of the morrow, but the morning light broke on a 
desolate chaos of ruins, without shape or life — the work of 
many years destroyed within the space of a minute. Nothing 
sadder can be imagined. 
Not a single house escaped damage, and the great majority 
were completely destroyed. It is no exaggeration to say 
that many parts were quite unrecognisable, and it was quite 
impossible to find one’s way among the ruins. 
The work of rescue began immediately, but was necessarily 
very slow. More than 1,000 perished, and it was not for 
several weeks that the bodies were all recovered. The flock 
of vultures which settled on the ruins was a most repulsive 
sight. 
