EARTHQUAKES IN CHILI.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VI, Issue 188, 10 August 1871, Page 2

EARTHQUAKES IN CHILI.

" 7°! [Translated from [El Ferro Carril, of Santiago, > 26th March, 1871, for the Otago Daily Times.] ■■•■:.'■. Santiago was visited yesterday by that terrible guest footsteps have left an eternal record in Mendoza, iv Arequipa, and in the Ecuador. A panic, perfectly justified by the alarming manifestations of the phenomena, bas occurred during a few hours,. removipg; the generally unalterable' tranquility bf this population; At 11 a.m. an -energetic movement of the earth was felt, shaking terribly all the houses, walls, and v ._whatever was encountered upon the face of the earth. -Contrary to custom, no subterraneous noise was heard to announce the immediate proximity of the quake. That was instantaneous. In the space of a minute the buildings have been shaken, the doors and the windows have been violently knocked about, and all the . horrorrstricken rpeople have abandoned their houses, and gone to seek a refuge against a_ destruction which was believed to be universal. The hour was, of all hours, inopportune for an event of tbis kind; the churches were full of people, being a fast day, and the outcries of alarm there, with all tbe anxious women, produced an indiscribable sensation. In La Merced, in San Francisco, in La Recole.ta, there were faintiogs, hysterics, add 'swoons; in this last, above all, the confusion arrived at its height, the assembly saw a cornice fall, and under the influence of fear : it- seemed ; that these enormous arches were bulging out. The" parijc had not yet entirely disappeared, when, at 1.30, a new shock, almost imperceptible', Compared to the previous, re.turn.cd to renew it a second time,. Ultimately, no later than 5.30 in the [afternoon, a third , movement,, as unexpected and instantaneous as the first, 'came to add to the "consternation of the [people; the woodwork cracked with noise,; iheavy lumps of plaster, fell,,, jupp» i, some* 'floors, and the flag-poles that 'shook con-. J vulsively, were the objects--of anxious gaze by the frightened^ppp.ulace. .-.. 1 Owing to the last shake.' the pendants of the Astronomical Obse^atory, fc^er;e. stopped iv an instant, .and^^to^jafter wards a slight vibrato^i-josa-ii^ direqtion of the quake and its original oscillation. ■ \ b ?* r I '!^ "A, In other immovable pendiiiU^yf^B^e been! enabled to notice a- njftV^ineqt, that comijjencj^^oji .jjgftjgft hfls been after-

wards" changeil into a rapid oircular motion...- -r /■**, r) «* ' '" r V- f >T '~_£T The W& Af i¥e liitendpncia -Jtbpp^ at the moment of t!«e earthquake, au<T during the d<s m&rkeA 10i56; -At the; time of its stopping it was seen that its bell had sounded. We have: not f heard of X&nf personal damage done to tlie city. Undoubtedly in the churches some -confusion • must have been experienced. __...,,. .„, :> In the suburbs "the alarm is extraordinary at the hour that- we write. The* imminence of ah ; earthquake' is yet spoken of, and a greater' 'portion' of tlie people are dispdsed'to '' pass-the 1 night by 'the light of the stars. Against all the -theories of the; celebrated Dr. Falb, the moon was! at* its" "greatest distance -from the,- earfib. Let: us not: then For remainder of news see fourth page.

blame this inoffensive luminary with the j fears we have experienced. For its part the atmosphere has been in a complete revolution after the earthquake of the morning; the heavens were covered with greyish clouds that, towards 3 p.m., cleared; from the horizon, leaving a considerable space in the centre surrounded by numerous columns of dust. At this time, a wind, which to us, had all the appearance of a hurricane, forcibly swept the surface of our streets. Shortly after the clouds began to spread, and after the last movement rose to a considerable height; at the same time the barometer arose to the saturation of the air. Some old walls have been rent in twain. The Municipal Theatre has not suffered, although isolated, and without exterior support.