476 
THE VOLCANOES OF GUATEMALA. 
occupation, and had resisted all the earthquakes since that time, was 
completely ruined. Mr, Ascoli considers that the deaths in Quezal¬ 
tenango really exceeded one thousand, though reported at a much 
smaller number. This earthquake was very widespread. It was felt 
from the city of Mexico, and even San Francisco, as far as Salvador, 
especially along the Pacific slope, the coffee zone at the foot of the 
volcanic range having suffered severely, but it was curiously local. It 
was probably most severe at Quezaltenango and San Pedro and along 
the high lands to Solola, but some villages within a few miles of the 
former town escaped almost entirely, and so did Totonicapam, only a 
few miles north of Solola. It was noticed that brick houses suffered 
more damage than those built of stone, and these again more than those 
with wooden frames; while the native ranchos, built of poles covered 
with thatch, bound together with bands made of creepers, suffered scarcely 
at all. Many landslips were traced to the shock. 
After April 18 a series of small earthquakes occurred, and on 
September 23, another severe one. Eockstroh, who visited the damaged 
districts after the occurrence,* considers the three earthquakes of 
January 18, April 18, and September 23 all tectonic; while List, who 
observed them all personally at Ocos, considers the last of quite a 
different character to the others. The smaller ones were probably 
volcanic, and connected with the approaching outbreak of Santa Maria. 
Some were more local in their distribution, and more severe towards 
the Salvador frontier. They may have been connected with the renewed 
activity of Izalco. 
The tidal wave of February 26, 1902, is reported by Aurelio Arias, 
director of the Meteorological Observatory of San Salvador,f to have 
extended along the coast of Salvador about 120 kilometres, especially at 
Barra del Paz, and to have reached as far north as Acajutla. At about 
7 p.m. three waves, of which the first was the smallest, swept on the 
land and caused great damage. Their height is not mentioned, but 
about 100 persons were killed at the village of Santiago, and 85 at Barra 
del Paz. Loud “ retumbos ” (subterranean noises) were heard, and 
thought to proceed from under the sea. 
The Cerro Quemado, .also known as the volcano of Quezaltenango, is 
near the town of that name, and as viewed from the Plaza, seems 
actually to overhang it. Though it had a small and perhaps doubtful 
outbreak in 1891, its last eruption of importance was in 1785, and while 
no accurate records are preserved, it is probable that, at any rate, some 
of the lava-streams which form such a conspicuous feature of the 
mountain were formed in that year. As mentioned above, most of the 
eruptions of these Guatemalan volcanoes have been of the explosive type, 
* Report to the Government, quoted by Sapper, p. 49. 
f El Siglo, San Salvador, 20, No. 3, 184 (June 20, 1902). 
