Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1830-1846, 1835-12-10

The EARTHQUAKE AT TALcAHuASA--Thc
Salem Register publishes the following ac-
count by an eye witness of the Earthquake
at Talcahuana, on the 2lsl February last.
| Talcahu na was built on IA narrow slip of
ground, between the anchorage and the foot
ct the hills. which start up abruptly, back of
the town, frou. 800 To 500 feet nigh This
tract Is about . oi mllc In width, and 4
OF IL mllc III length, denseiy covered with hUu-
ses, most of which were one story high, and
built OF mud bricks dried in the sun, the only
subtance which will stand the earthquakes,
and Is sufficiently elastic to resist Common
ones.
About ii Id, A. NJ. we felt slight shock
OF an earthquake. Capt X. exclaimed, there
is an earthquake-save yourselfn | accord
Ilnely rushed 10 the front door, and he in u
mother direction for his wife aud children. |
had no sooner got out OF the house than the
roof fell in. Every body now ran as fast as
possible for The public square, which was in
the back part of the town, and within few
rods Of where stood; this was soon filled by
the distracted inhabitants, and in few min
utes the whole place was covered by a dense
cloud Of dust, aud hid from our view, by the
dried mud Of the falling houses. All now
hastily retired to the hills in the immediate
vicinity of the place. The CONFUSION and
movement OF the ground was fearful, beyond
my power to describe.
After reaching the summit of the hills,
scene presented itself, most magnificent and
interesting, could We have dlvcsted ourselves
Of the thoughts Of destruction which accom-
pa led it. The water IN the Bay began to
tall, until every vessel at the anchorage was
left aground, except nine, (which lay farther
out in deep water,) and some OF them in shore
high and dry. la few minutes | observed
the sea was coming in at the mouth Of the
Bay, 40 miles dlstant,l and was IN Il state of
violent agitation, and coming IN immense roll
Grs, which were afterwards asCcrtalued to be
30 feet bigh-on they came, swelling, foam
ing, and filling up the mouth Of the Bay, 3
leagues wide, rolling nalestcully towards
the shore, and finally broke into the half ru-
ined place, covering the highest houses to
the roof, approached the foot of the hills on
which we stood-where, arrested in its course
and having finished its work Of destruction,
the water began slowly to retire, carrylnI
away with il every sub ance that would float,
and leaving the site Of the unfortunate place
to our view, which presented no vestige OF
buildings except a few remnants of broken
walls, bricks, tiles and rubbish. The work of
ruin was complete, and 1000 souls had not a
shelter to lay their heads in. In the mean
time, the everlasting hills were laboring
fearfulIy with some hidden power, which
seemed endcuvorng to tear them from their
foundations, and to carry them, as the Psalm
Ist expresses it, into the midst of the sea-
A violent and continuous motion, sometimes
in horizontal and sometimes in vertical
direction, was apparent, and II seemed to me
that the earth where stood was alternately
carried backward and forward 3 or 4 feet.
and while was endeavoring to reach the top
of the h Is, where the ground was compare.
lively level, the motion was so abrupt and
violent that often thought should be prec-
ipitated TO the bottom, and actually laid hold
Of tufts Of grass, bushes or any other object
that came in my way. This state Of things
continued about halfan hour, when there be-
gan to be intervals between the shocks, which
gave some hopes that the final dissolution Of
all things had not arrived. About noon the
shocks were less frequent and much weaker;
but out upon the bay the scene was AS busy
and threatening as ever. J he whole surface
ot il was covered with the wooden materials
Of the houses, merchandise of every descrip-
ton, and namclcss articles ~ abundance.
borne in aud on, of the bay, at a velocity IT
from to . miles per hour-iur although the
sea did not rise much alter the iirst instance,
yet it continued to run IN and out rapidly aud
rregularly for several hours.