The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1890-12-11
AN EARTHQUAKE AN hour.
Seismic Sensations on an Unusual Scale
Sicaraguan City Dspopulated.
fWashington Letter.1


The Granada earthquake is described
in a letter from Consul Newell, of
Managua, to the state department.
Granada, the scene Of the disturbance,
is distant from Managua twenty-seven
miles, and is situated on the;eastern
side of Lake Nicaragua. Within few
miles of the city are numbers of volca-
noes, the more prominent being Nom
bacho and Pilon. The consul writes:
"The first shock was noticed at 10
O'Clock Sunday morning, August 2lst.
From this time until midnight of the
same day there were twenty-five dis;
tinct shocks, some severe, the most
slight. On Monday, September 1st, at
$50 a. NJ, the strongest shock was felt;
its duration was six seconds. For an
hour and a half otter the shock on
Monday the earth was in a constant
tremor. Twenty-six shocks from Mon
day, September LIST, to Tuesday after
noon, September I'd, were recorded.
"On September a panic seized the
people, and women and children went
crying and praying through the streets.
Some women marched in procession
bearing an image of the Saviour, while
others bore the statute of saint,
which, according to native belief, has
power to quite disturbance of this
character. The populaee fed pell-mell
to the plaza and other open spaces.
Some had the hardihood to take time
pget thousehold effects; the major part,
however, sought place Of safety
empty-handed. Business houses all
discontinued business, which was a
serious drawback, as the people were
all shut off by this means from provi-
sions, and thus ensued much distress.
Many houses were looted by thieves.
Some of the saloons were broken into by
roughs and their contents carried off.
The government very wisely sent 200
soldiers to Granada, and thus in the
beginning stopped the reign ofanarchy
and chaos. So terror-strieken were the
people that thousands fed to adjacent
towns. The government ordered spe-
eial trains to enable those who desired
to leave the city. Many availed them
selves of the opportunity, so that now,
even this late date, Granada appears
like deserted village.
"The earthquake still continues, and
many prophecies are made as to the
ultimate end Of the trouble. Some
agree with a noted French expert on
earthquake that the city will sink out
of sight, or that volcano will be
thrown.up in its midst. None Of the
volcanoes in the vicinity are active, so
that it is exceedingly difficult to deter
mine the cause. 1t may arise from
atmospheric changes, as the season has
been hotter and drier than known here
for years. Why this should locate the
disturbance more in Granada than in
any other place in Nicaragua 1 know
not.
"The extent of the damage is not
fully known. Many buildings have
their walls badly cracked, and many
roofs are uncovered by the tiles running
off: This government labors under a
great disadvantage in not having the
proper apparatus with which to make
earthquake observations. This, I might
say, is the land of valcanoes, for with
in radius of 800 miles there are twen-
ty-fve-one to every twelve mile.
Much valuable information could be
furnished science from this point were
the4 foper instruments here"