THE VOLCANOES OF GUATEMALA. 
475 
The Earthquake of January 18, 1902. 
Guatemala has always been considered a district particularly subject 
to earthquakes, especially at the changes of the seasons in April, May, 
and October, November, but they had been less frequent than usual for 
some years before 1902. 
On January 18 a severe shock was felt widely over the Kepublic. 
San Martin, a village near Quezaltenango, had some houses thrown 
down ; and at Ocos, on the Pacific coast, three parallel ridges, sloping 
gently towards the sea, but steep towards the land, were formed in the 
sand. List, quoted by Sapper,* writes, “Just as at any moment one 
may see a wave break on the shore, so the volcanic breaker remained 
modelled in the sand of Ocos.” The ridges were in general parallel to 
the coast-line, and could be traced for a distance of about an English 
mile. The earth-waves passed through a coffee shed, and some of the 
steel pillars had sunk 2 feet. The waves on the pier are described as 
having a length of 25 to 30 metres, and a depth of 25 to 30 cms. As 
showing the strength of the shock, it is mentioned that two locomotives, 
weighing 20 tons each, were moved 6 feet in the direction of the 
earth push. Similar appearances were observed on the Mexican coast 
near San Benito. Sapper considers the earthquake tectonic in character, 
i.e. caused by readjustments of the Earth’s crust, in this case probably a 
slip somewhere under the Pacific. 
The earthquakes of April 18 were considered by List at Ocos to be 
of the same nature as that of January 18, i.e. tectonic. In that of April 
18, the sinking of the sand continued further inland than in January. 
Sapper does not consider it clear whether it was a general sinking of 
the coast or merely a local sinking of the sand inland due to the shaking. 
At Quezaltenango the shock was especially violent. Mr. Walter S. 
Ascoli,t who was on the spot, relates that while he was quietly reading 
about 8.20 p.m., without the slightest warning or premonitory tremor, 
the Earth began to sway violently, and the ornaments in the room all 
lost their balance and fell to the floor. This oscillation continued for 
twenty seconds, then suddenly the motion became vertical and much 
more violent. Later on the shocks seemed to come from all directions. 
Loud “ retumbos ” (underground noises) were heard. Scarcely a single 
house or building in the town remained habitable, and those on the 
slopes of the Cerro Quemado, consisting chiefly of adobe (i.e. dried 
mud), were entirely destroyed. As showing the violence of the shocks, 
the church of San Sabastian, which was built soon after the Spanish 
* Sapper, * Neues Jakrbuch,’ ut sup., p. 49. 
t In a letter to Dr. Anderson. Muck information kas also been obtained from 
Mr. A. H. Gekrke, of Rosing Bros., London and Guatemala; Don Carlos Moesly, of 
Helvetia; Herr Jokn Lisser, of Retalkuleu ; besides Sapper’s works; to all of wkom 
my tkanks are due. 
