The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1906-10-02
THE EARTHQUAKE ZONE.
South America Has Had Many
Disasters In the Past.
VALPARAISO OFTEN DEVASTATED

fA11 AhA10V Va 4A-s
City InaptIy Named "val1ey OF Para
diseo Twice Before shaken by De-
ssructtve NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. Sack
ed In It's EARLY H&story-Amer1cen
Rluejnckets killed There In 1894,
Almost CAUSING War.
The region which has suffered 30
heavily by the recent earthquake In
South America Is the center OF a vast
area which for centuries has been
visited periodically by earthquake
shocks. The frequency Of these shocks
in the Andes is expressiyely told by
the name given this region by the In
dams, says the New York Sun. They
call It Cusca tlon-'the land that swings
like hammock"
One Of the most terrible Of South
American earthquakes was the one
which entirely destroyed the city OF
Caracas, Venezuela, In 1872. It lasted
less than one minute. In Ecuador, In
1850, the city Of Quito was almost
wholly destroyed.
For three days In August, 1888.
the whole south Pacific region and
Hawaii, Japan, Alaska and Peru
were shaken by an earthquake which,
among the atolls, or coral reef islands,
lifted steamships clear over the coral
reefs and left them inside the dough
nut-like barriers. The same shock
caused a tidal wave along the west
coast of South America fifty feet high
In places. At africa, a seaport of Peru,
which had been often before nearly
destroyed by earthquakes, every house
was Ieveled, $12,00o0O0 worth of prop
erty was destroyed and 800 lives were
lost.
The tidal wave which swept inland
from the sea at africa carried with 1t
the United States steamer Wateree
and other vessels and left them strand
ed high and dry three miles inland. To
this day the hull Of the old Wateree is
used by Peruvian poems as a summer
resort and boarding house. The shocks
lasted for two days, occurring about
every half hour. Among the curious
results Of this earthquake was the
opening Of a broad assure in the
earth, disclosing large number Of an.
cient mummies which had been buried
in the sand facing the sea. The forti-
! fed island of Alocrav, which defends
the port Of africa, was submerged three
times, all the garrison being drowned.
Valparaiso has been twice sacked,
thrice has 1t been racked by earth
qcakes, thrice has 1t been scourged by
fire, and once has it been drowned by
food. No city of South America has
received so raany visitations of evil as
this valley Of Paradise" inaptly so
named by Spanish discoverer in the
sixteenth century.
Don Juan de Saavedra, a captain IN
der Almagron, Spanish voyager and
soldier of fortune, sailed into the cres-
cent bay where the city afterward
stood in the year 1892 He was struck
by the beauty of the spot and imme-
diately christened this new bay on the
little explored western coast by the
name that ID has borne through much
tribulation since. Pedro de Valdivia
visited the place in 1543 and formally
affirmed the choice Of the name given
the then struggling colony by its foster
father. Don LLis lie Avail, one Of the
early governors. of New Spain, made
the settlement q municipality under
roval charter in 1871 after it had been
sorely tried by many years Of misfor-
tune.
In 1873 Sir Francis Drake sailed into
the harbor Of Valparaiso and lombard
ed the town, afterward sacking 1t of
it's treasure and putting many of its
inhabitants to the sword. Sir John
Hawkins, gentleman slave trader and
pirate, visited the Spanish settlement
later, and again the town was given up
to pillage.
The year 1T30 witnessed the first
great earthquake that shook Valpa-
raise. Practically the whole town was
destroyed in this CONFUSION and only
after many years Of slow progress did
1t recover. In 1872 second earth
quake came to shake down what had
been rebuilt. In this catastrophe many
lost their lives. A great fire swept the
city in 1S43, destroying S1,000.000
worth Of property. Hardly had the
fortunes Of the community begun to
mend when second FIRE licked up five
times as much wealth as had the first
This was In 1853.
When the Spanish made the last
futile attempt to destroy the republic
of Chile In 1866 they sent feet into
the harbor Of Valparaiso and the town
was mercilessly bombarded What
with the damage wrought with the
shells and the fire that followed $10.-
100000 was the loss counted up. The
last great disaster preceding the one
which the Chilean city has Just suf-
fered came In 1888, when a large dam
back Of the city burst and portion
Of the business district was washed
away with great loss OF life. The city
had at the last CELSIUS q population OF
$4,000.
For more than six months there were
warnings of the present quake. In
January there were many shocks