The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1854-08-02
Correspond cncc of the y. y. Tribune.
The Recent Destruction of ST Salvador
by an Earthquake.
DESCRIBED ny AN EYEWITNESS.

NEAR San SALVADOR, April 90, 1854
The attention Of the dwcllers and so
journcrs upon the south western part of
that elevated plain which lies above the
city of San Salvador, upon the 18th aud
18Th Of April last, was forcibly called to
a hollow, rolling subtcrranean sound
which was repeated at intervals, and at
times continued several minutes withou,
ceaslug. 1t seemed to proceed from tho
mountain chain, which extends south
westerly from the ncishboring volcano
and forms a scmi-circlc The awe inspiring
sound was most distinctly heard at Mon.
scrrat aud at little hacienda (farm)
belonging to 4 German family, named
Bogen, from East Prussia.
About y o'clock on the morning Of
Good Friday, (April il,) two slight
shocks of earthquake were felt at San
Salvador and in the immediate vicinity,
succeeding each other with little inter
val and followed some ten minutes later
by one more severe. | saw the roof and
walls of my little habitation trembling
without at first pcIcciving the cause.
" Es un temblos," said Martino,my young
New Spanish attendant, very quietly.
lie was native of the country, and
therefore accustomed to phenomenon,
which fills the mind of an inhabitapt of
the North with such profound horror
The cnvirons of San Salvador have a
bad name throughout tho country, on ac.
count of the frequent shaking of the
earth, and the natives have given the re
glon name expressive of the fact But
though these slight shocks are so con.
stantly occurring, especially at the be.
ginning and end of the dry season (De.
cember and May,l there has never, since
the memory Of man, been an instance of
these terrible catastrophes, which, rs at
Lima or Valparaiso, are expected about
once in century to overwhelm the city
IN total destruction Besides, the volca
no Of lsalco, sixteen leagues South of
San Salvador, boing in constant activity.
is considered as sort of a chimney.
conducting off the vapors aud liquid mat
ter from the vast fires beneath, or, to
quote lumboldt,as safety valve against
destructive earthquakes
The shocks continued throughout
Good Friday, with pretty regular inter.
vals. about as often as two or three per
hour and having all the same direction
west-south-west to east-nortb. east. In this
direction, at distance of short league
from the city, and at an elevation of a.
bout 800 feet above it, is the great era.
ter of Guscatlan. This crater seems to
be Of more ancient formation than that
Of ST Salvador, and is partly filled up
by lake. Hero the shocks seemed to |
originate, and not at the volcano.
ln San Salvador, where the holy week |
is celebrated with all possible religious
pomp, the people paid little attention to
the earthquake that took place upon
Good Friday, and were but to very
small extent hindered in their participa-
ton in the procession and in their visits
to the cathedral Still, several times in
the course Of the day, as tho shocks
grew of greater force, the dovout multi
tules were seen flying from the holy
halls, pale with terror, rushing in wild
haste to the doors-their fear Of the
subterranean powers overcoming their
faith in tho celestial
About 81 o'clock p, NJ, ths houscs
were shaken to their foundations, aud
tho roofs began to crack Walls were
filed with assures, the plastering fell
FROM ceilings, and many tiles were
thrown from the roofs This shock last.
ed some eight seconds, with an undulat.
ing motion, aud had the houses not been
so exceedingly well adapted for resist
ance to earthquakes, they would prob
ably have come down in masses. These
houses are all low, very broad and if only