Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1891-11-20
ANCIENT EARTHQUAKES.
rERRIBLE UPHEAvALS OF PAST
CENTURIES,
Three Hundred Til ousand Persons Burie d
In n Moment at Pekin In 1902
The Awful Earthquake at
Lisbon in 1888.

| t LOU
Is this old earth loaded, and will II
90 of sometime and blow everything
10 piecesp asks the Chicago Herald.
Are earthquakes caused by the sudden
contact of subterranean water with
subterranean fire and the instant gen.
GRAFTON OF vast volumes of explosive
and irresistible steam? We will let it
go at that while we recall some OF the
more important earthquakes in the
past few centuries. At Pekin, China
800, 900 persons were buried in a mo-
ment in 1862. and 100. 900 again in
the same city in 1881. The earth
quake at Lima on October 2S 1916, ex-
tended to Callao, and $1,000 persons
persisted. This convulsion, which
spread along the coast 200 leagues
began about 1890 o'clock at night
The noise the shock and the rain took
place in the space OF only four min
utes. The day being one dedicated to
St Simon and St Jude, the people OF
Lima attributed to the agency of those
saints the fact that only Is, 600 per-
sons persisted out of population OF
so, 000 Vast quantities of gold. silver
and jewels were buried among the
seventy-four churches and the fourteen
monasteries. The public fountains
were buried. the statues Of the Span
ish kings crushed and the streets bar
ricaded with fallen houses. Callao
was utterly destroyed. and even its
very shape was changed by huge heaps
OF sand and gravel At the moment
OF the earthquake the sea rose mount
ain high and rolled on till it buried
the city and destroyed everything ex-
cept the two great gates. OF the 8. 600
inhabitants, only about two hundred
escaped by clinging to timbers and
pieces OF wreck.
The most tremendous earthquake
| of modern times was that Of Lisbon.
November /, 1855. The people had
risen as usual that morning. and
looked out uponBelem and the Tagus.
the little villas among the olive
groves, the orange trees, the bull ring,
the hospitals the converts and the
shops. In the seventy five converts
and forty churches of Lisbon the bells
had tinkled and the early prayer had
been said. The birds were gayly
singing their mathis in the suburban
gardens of Alcantara and Campo
Grande. The blue sky gave no omen
of evil, and the river lay for mile
after mile smiling in the golden sun
light. Suddenly the city fell to pieces
like q children's tower Of cards
Roofs crushed in. arcades gaped in
two. towers fell steeples snapped
palaces tottered, walls were leveled.
The air grew black with rising clouds
of dust and was filed with the crash
of ceGseless destruction. At the same
time as If the terrors of the apoca.
lypse had broken at last on Lisbon.
the sea- agitated to its depths by
the awful CONFUSION rose and
spread over the shore. One OF
the quays also opened its dark
jaws and swallowed. in an instant 600
persons who had taken refuge on it.
In a minute or two more fresh calami-
ties fell on the unhappy city. for, the
fires being hurled down among the
fallen timbers, CONGREGATIONS broke
out in several parts OF the city. To
add to the general misery. thieves
and murderers, escaping from the
shattered prisons plundered and
robbed indiscriminately. One OF these
villains confessed to setting fire to the
Indian House and another to burning
the ruins in seven places. The earth
quake continued with gentle. inter
hitting tremors, felt even on the
river for eighteen days. The first
great shock convulsed the earth for
8, 600 miles, overturned many cities
and never halted in its tremendous
march till it reached Scotland. The
year 1875 was very wet and rainy.
The summer was unusually cool.
and during the forty days proceed
ing the earthquake the weather was
clear but not remarkably so. One
day Immediately preceding the earth
quake a remarkable gloominess pre-
vailed but on the morning of the fatal
day tho fog was dissipated by the sun.
There was no wind, nor the least agit-
alton of the sea, and the weather was
remarkably warm. This great earth
quake of Lisbon. which in few min
utes swallowed so. 900 persons, had a
precursor in 1881, when in the same city
j, 500 houses and 80. 600 persons were
destroyed, and several neighboring
towns ingulfed with all their popula-
tions. Is this old earth cooling of
and getting rid Of its surplus heat
through its volcanic fire escapes. or is
it simply preparing for another mighty
effort to wreck things?