The Lee County journal. (Leesburg, Ga.) 1904-19??, 1907-03-01

provided by the Santa Fe Railroad
Then came the most awful Of all
the earthquake disasters, that which
on the nights of August 16 and IL
destroyed Valparaiso, killing 1000
Of its inhabitants and causing a fire
which caused 5O,0OO,0OO worth Of
damage. Between August 16 and 30
the region for hundreds of miles
around Valparaiso was visited by $50
earthquake shocks. The towns of
Los Andes, with 10000 inhabitants.
and of MeIippilla, with 5000, were
completely swallowed up with the
greater part of their inhabitants. In
Santiago, the capital of Chile, 55 were
killed and $1,5O0,00O worth Of dam
age done. The towns of Vina del
Mar, Quirihue, Limache and Quill
lota, with a total of $4,000 inhabit-
ants, we're completely destroyed.
Since then the surface of the earth
has rested in comparative quiet. On
September 81 San Juan was thrown
into a panic by a severe shock which
lasted five seconds and cracked few
buildings. On November 23 a sea
captain brought. news to Victoria,
British Columbia, that q tidal wave
raised by an earthquake had devaa,
tated the shores of German New
Guinea, killing numbers of natives
and leaving assures in the side of the
mountains. On December &c half
the town of Tacna, Chile, near the
Peru boundary, was destroyed by an
earthquake, but the loss of life and
property was not great, as there were
only 5000 inhabitants.
This year, on January 10, Stock
holm and Christiania, the capitals of
Sweden and Norway, respectively,
were gently rocked by rude Mother
Earth, and on Monday last the bot
tom of the Pacific was reported great
ly disturbed.
A brief summary Of other earth
Quakes which have startled human
ity into a state of terror in the last
one hundred and fifty years reads as
follows: Lisbon, 1855; Calabria,
1888; Caracas destroyed, 1912; AIep-
20 destroyed, 1922; Mount Ararat,
1870; Busa, Asia Minor, 1856;
Naples, 1857; Quito, 1859; Mendoza,
Argentina, 1860; Manila, 1880; Val
paraiso, 1880; Ischia, 1883; those
accompanying the eruption Of Kra-
katoa, 1888; Colchester, England,
1884; Malaga and Granada, 1884
and 1885; Charleston, 1886; Japan,
1891; Chilpancuigo, Mex, 1892, and
Quezaltenango, Guatemala, 1902.
Adding the severe shocks which
have occurred since September, 1905,
it will be seen that Calabria, Italy,
has been visited twice by severe seis-
mic disasters, as have Manila and
Valparaiso, and that out of the
twenty-one disasters recorded in the
list previous to September, 1905,
eight have occurred in the Western
! hemisphere.
The destruction of Quezaltenango,
! Guatemala, in 1902 is worthy of no
tice, because it seemed to have some
connection with the eruption of Mont
PeIee and the obliteration of st.
Pierre. Mont Pelee broke out on
May 8, but previous to that, ON April
IS and 19, the western slope of the
Sierras in Guatemala was visited by
a series of earthquake shocks which
destroyed the towns Of Solola Nahu
ala, Amatitlan, Santa Lucia and San
Juan, and badly damaged Quezalten-
ango, city of $4,000 inhabitants,
killing 200 people. This city and the
surrounding region were again WIS.,
tied, it seems, by week of earth
/ quakes while Mont Pelee was having
its series of eruptions, rendering So
600 homeless Then on May p the
job was finished, and Quezsltenango
was wiped off the map by shock
which lasted tbree-quarters of a
minute.