The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1874-11-14 00:00:00

THE EARTHQUAKE AT GUATEMALA.

A Guatemala paper gives the following account of the
earthquake of the 3rd of September and Its effects :
" Ever since the beginning of August several shocks
of earthquake were felt, but attracted little attention.
At the end of the month the shocks became more
frequent and stronger. On the night of the 3rd of
September the sky began to be overcast with dense
masses of black clouds, and all nature seemed to be
in the most perfect repose —not a breath of wind wee
stirring —when about 9.18 a terrible shock was felt,
produced by oscillations alternately vertical and hori-
zontal, accompanied with noises in the bowels of the
earth, like the noise that follows a sudden stroke of
lightning. These were moments of indefinable
anguish, in which the sound if the church bells
rung by the earthquake, increased the terror of the
people. The movement continued, in all its intensity,
for four seconds, after which the undulations of
the earth went on gradually diminishing. If these
shocks had continued for two or three seconds more,
neither in this department nor in that of Chicago would
there have remained one stone u pon another, and hardly
5 per cent- of the population would have escaped with
their lives. The people of this city (Antigua) ran
through the streets and plazas without finding security
er safety in any part. The lamentations, the ruins, and
the darkness of the night, were such as to appal the
bravest; and, to make the situation more terrible still, •
few hours after the earthquake, the bells sounded the
alarm of 'lire,' which had begun in one of the houses,
but thanks to the activity of the authorities, and to the
aid of neighbours, the fire was extinguished. During
the remainder of that terrible night shocks were felt
every hour or two, the principal being that which oc-
curred at two o'clock in the morning. Every one
I awaited with anxiety the dawn. When the sun shone out
it was seen with agreeable surprise that the city pre-
sented more or less its usual aspect, although, on closer
examination, it was found that the greater part of the
houses hail suffered considerably, and many were un-
inhabitable. The number of victims cannot be exactly
decided, because many dead bodies remained buried
under the stream of mud which descended from the
Cerro del Tigre. In Antigua alone 30 persons perished,
the greater part being women and children. It is cal-
culated that 25 bodies were buried in the other towns,
and 100 more or less bruised and wounded. On the
morning of the 4th the writer of this set out for the
town of Duehos, which he found in the most miserable
condition. The greater part of its inhabitants were
leaving with their families, taking also their fur-
niture and animals. All showed in their counten-
ances the terror they had experienced. This emigration
was suspended by the sudden arrival of the Pre-
sident of the Republic and the Minister of War, who
managed to quiet the minds of the people, and divided
among them pecuniary ammimtance. At the foot of the
great volcano extends a small mountain called Cerro
del Tigre, rising about 5,000 feet above the level of the
sea. It is united with the great volcanic chain which
runs from south to north-west in this depaxtment and
in that of Chirnaltenango. In the centre of this
mountain must exist the focus of destruction ; from
thence there is no doubt there exists a subterranean
communication which, following the direction of the
Cordillera, comes in contact with the volcanic moun-
tain of Atitlan. On all sides the reaction of the com-
pressed vapours on the interior of the earth tends to
break through the superficial strata, forming innumer-
able fimmures, which give exit to eruptions of mud, all
presenting the same characters and properties."