Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1882-09-28
THE PANAMA EARTHQUAKE.
A Series of Shocks on the Isthmus-Dam.
age to Several Towns and to the Rail.
rOad-LOss of Life.
Panama Correspondent Ns,O York Herald.


Panama Correspondent Nesc York Herald.
The State Of Panama principally, and ad-
Joining States in Colombia, and the Repub-
lies OF Costa Riea and Nicaragua, as far as
heard from by the new cable in the Pacific,
have been subjected since the 7Ch inst. to a
series OF earthquakes, which have differed
as widely in intensity as they have in locali-
ty. In this city the first one was felt at
about twenty minutes past q. m. on the
7th, and was followed, about half an hour
sfterwsrd, by & second one. Both
these shocks were felt in Colon,
and generally throughout the State:
also In Carthagena, In the
State of Bolivar; in Rivas, Niacaragua,
which is situated within eighteen miles of
the Pacific, and in GreytoWn, the Atlantic
port of the San Juan river in the same re-
public, and good hundred and fifty miles
from the before mentioned town. The alb
solute lack OF any regularity in the time
kept in these different countries prevents
calculation of the earth's motion by this
means, but all indications so far received
tend to prove that In the more northern lati-
tudes the shocks were felt subsequent to
their occurrence here, although the most
experienced in such events, and the general
line of damage, indicate that the impulse
reached here from the north or north
northeast. The alarm in this city was great,
and the cracks In the old fashioned rock and
cement houses afforded sufficient evidence
that there was warrant for It, The
walls of more than sixty houses were more
or less injured, but none fell, and conse-
quently no one was hurt. Public buildings
were less fortunate. The high crown of the
pediment Of the cathedral fell, as it had moth
ing to support it, and hurled about couple
of hundred tons Of masonry work, decOra-
tive architecture aud a few statues down
through the roof of the nave and into the
central square. The wide balcony Of the
Legislative Assembly also came down with
crash and filed the square in front of It
with blocks Of stone, fragments of ce-
ment columns and large quantity Of
miscellaneous lumber. The offices of the
Interocesnic Canal Company, formerly the
Grand Hotel, were also severely damaged,
and the edihce, which cost the company a
few months ago $3.50, 200, will REQUIRE at
least $4,000 to put it in order. Many of
the employees are afraid to enter It, The CITY
OF Aepinwsll suffered in similar manner,
but being go much sHaller, and the houses
being constructed generally of the most
fragile material, the harm done Is not so
great.
1t is probable that $3.50. 600 will repair all
the damage done in this city, and third of
that sum will cover all the losses experienced
In the rest Of the Isthmus. Not a single
house has fallen In Panama, although many
Of the people, fearing the successive shocks
might bring them down, have preferred to
go TO the plains outside the city and reside
in the cane and palm leaf houses rather than
expose themselves to the risk of being
crushed by the falling masonry and brick
work OF the more solidly constructed houses
in the better part of the city. A few of the
standing walls-which in any other part
OF the world would have been de-
stroved by municipal order years ago
crumbled down. These walls, which
give the city such ruined appearance, are
the relics of fires which have swept, almost
unopposed, through this city within the
last twenty or thirty years, and which many
a casual pAsser-by considers worthy to be
transferred to the sketchbook as examples
OF ancient Spanish architecture, and the
hard hands Of the buccaneers who are
credited with causing the destruction, but
who had been dead many years before the
walls were constructed or the Isthmus had
become transit for all nations. Quite a
number OF shocks have been experienced
since the 9th, but no further
damage has been done. The loss of life has
been trlftng; only one death occurring in
Aspinwall and another IN Gatun can be
distinctly traced to the falling houses. Two
Others have also taken place, and both were
doctors and Victims OF their own impru-
dence. One happened here and the other
in Colon, and by remarkable coincidence
both resulted from jumping from windows
when the first and most severe shake oc-
CURED. A shird doctor is said to have gone
out OF his mind through the strain OF the
succession or shocks. 1t is q remarkable
fact that since the shocks commenced
sickness has not been spoken of, although
undoubtedly many people will suffer from
having deserted comfortable homes to sleep
and live in the miserable ranches occupied
by the poorer classes Of natives.
II is now the 14th, and since the 8th peo-
pie have suffered tremendous terror. In
earthquake countries, more particularly in
Ecuador, Peru and some parts of Chill,
none OF the shakes so far experienced would
have created the least alarm; but here.
where they have been hitherto almost un-
known, the fright has been far more severe
than the reality. The widest rumors as to
the existence Of volcanoes in different parts
OF the Isthmus have been set afoat.
committee of canal engineers has visited
several localities indicated by the natives,
but no such rare, though possible, proof of
the power of subterranean forces has been
discovered. In few places loose alluVial
soil shows signs Of the shakes, and cracks
from one to six inches are visible. In every
case they commence from the top, but do
not continue to any depth, indicating that
their formation is due to subsidence and
not to the direct upward agency which Gre
atee the deep riffs and fssures to be noticed
In the countries which have suffered the
severe effects Of direct volcanic action.
Several OF the embankments of the
PanamA Railroad, on both sides of
which tropical swAmps exist, and the
high masonry abutments of six or seven
OF the bridges were severely damaged
by the earthquake. The superintendent of
the line, MIR. Woods, however, was equal to
the emergency, and by working day and
night, in 8 most critical season and at
most critical time, with laborers scared out
OF their lives at the occasional earthquakes,
succeeded in re establishing traffic within
one day and sendiDg freight and passengers
through as usual within two days after the
first break in the line. The cable from As
pinwall to Jamaica was broken by the first
shock at g point fifty miles from the 18th
mus. The Central American cables, how
ever, continued to work all right, and
although they are not yet open to bust
ness, the courtesy of the officials con-
nected with them enabled the public to
learn that damage had not been done In the
Antilles. SO many residents here are ma
tivee Of the islands and the Spanish Main.
and business relations are so closely con-
necied that the fear of catastrophe on she
Atlantic added much to the panic expert
enced here. The Central and South Amerf-
can Company's cables are now all laid, and
will be open to the public shortly. The
Silvertown, which has laid the greater part
OF them, sailed yesterday for San Francisco
to load cargo Of wheat for England.
COURSE OF THE EARTHQUAKE.
The Herald Panama correspondent sends
the following: "Mr. Robert Gaye Gray,
Fellow Of the Royal Geographical Society,
and chief Of the Cable Expedition now here,
after the first violent earthquake advanced
the theory that It was of local origin,
This has been fully confirmed by cablegrams
received from Central and South America,
and from the West Indies by way Of New
York. Mr.. GraY's opinion. as q scientist,
is as follows: The centre of the earthquake
was near AspinWall. The waves Travelled
from north to south. This opinion is borne
out by the damage done, being
severest In Aspinwall and its neigh
In travelling from north to south left
transverse cracks in the ground and almost
without exception In every house that it en-
countered. The damaged villages of Los
Santos and ChOrrara, in the State Of Pana-
ma, are directly south of Aspinwall and the
Chagres river, and they with AspinWall suf-
fered most. The city Of Panama lies to the
eastward OF south, and Judging from the
evidence, did not come In for the most yIo-
lent shocks. Damage done In AspinWsll Is
due principally to the inefficient construc-
tion Of the buildings. It is rumored that
Chiriqui, on the Chiriqui Lagoon, eighty
miles to the westward of Chagres, is also sf-
fected, but In fall probability fhfa effaot