The Holt County sentinel., 1873-05-02
The Earthquake at San Salvador.

AGAIN, after an intermission of twenty
years, the volcanic forces surging beneath
tue soil of Central America have asserted
thelr terrible power. The telegram an
nouncing the second destruction of San
Salvador and eight hundred of its devoted
inhabitants in all probability undertakes
rather than exaggerates the appalling
truth. The scene of this last throe of
nature lies in the volcanic belt partly GOV.
cred by the Andes, stretching along the
lines of Its burning cones from Terra del
Fuego, on the southern point of South
America, all the way to Panama, and dis
tinctly traceable through Guatemala to
Mexico and California. This vast region
of subterranean fire extends over six
thousand miles Of the earth's crust, and
from time immemorial has been and still
is in state OF vibration, liable at any mo-
ment to upheave and demolish the proud
est fabrics ofnature and art, and spreads
forth its fiery arms to the right and left
beyond our knowledge. San Salvador
has many times been slightly shaken, but
never as 1t was during the ever-memora-
bic earthquake of 1854. In 1854, on the
Thursday before Easter Sunday, move
ments of the earth were felt, preceded
by sounds like the rolling of heavy artil.
lery over pavement. On Friday and
.'"et'iNuO an was Inc
heat was intense and the air calm and
Silly. In the evening of Sunday, after
severe shock had temporarily alarmed the
people, suddenly, without further pre-
monition, the city was convuised
most terribly, and, with sin
gle exception, every building was
overthrown and five thousand victims
perished in the disaster. In ten seconds
the fearful ruin had all been wrought. The
ravlne Of lnfernillo, which is situated not
far of In the center of the Republic of San
Salvador, was filled with a multitude of
streams of boiling water gushing from
the supherheated surface.
Central America is seated not far from
the rim OF great circle of volcanic fires
that girdles the Pacific Ocean, and in 1910,
amid terrors that have survived in the OBJ
scure history of a century, the burning
mountain of Izalco, which has been active
ever since, was formed in the little Repub-
lie OF San Salvador. The powerful vol.
canic action In Central America and Mexi-
co of September 20, 1850, caused the vol
canlc pyramid of Jorullo to rise in one
night to the height of one thousand eight
hundred and sixty-three feet above the
surrounding plain. The volcanic nature
of the West Indies, together with the ire
mendous earthquakes to which they are
al suDJecU, seems 10 demonstrate the fact
that the whole caribbean Sea and Gulf of
Mexico form an area of subsidence, prOba-
bly, increased by the erosion of the Gulf
Stream and the groundswell which pre-
walls during the summer. SO marked Is
the submarine furnace in its thermal en-
eigy that more than one eminent physic-
ist has attributed to it the force of IRE
sistible expansion of the Gulf Stream
waters which come forth from these fire.
sprlnkled estuaries of the Atlantic.
There can be but little doubt that fear
ful devastation has been accomplished in
San Salvador by these Plutonian forces,
and the whole world will look aghast upon
the scene. We shall await with great
anxiety to hear further details by 7tele-
graph. We shall probably hear, in few
days, OF some great volcanic eruption in
south America or in some of its anti
nodes N Y Herald