MORE EARTHQUAKES IN PERU.

Westport Times, Volume III, Issue 599, 28 December 1869, Page 2

MORE EARTHQUAKES IN PERU.

More earthquakes have occurred at different points on the coast of Peru, reviving much apprehension and anxiety with respect to the dreaded forthcoming Ist of October. In Arica there were no less than 40 earthquakes on the 12th of August, all more or less sti'ong, and the people, dreading another sea inundation, were not slow in completely deserting the place, taking refuge in Tacna and elsewhere. In Iquique an especially strong shock was felt early on the morning of the 15th, causing the inhabitants to forsake their beds and take to their heels towards the surrounding pampas. In the latter placo a great religious procession was held on the 13th of August, in commemoration of the disaster of last year. Previous to the recurrence of these earthquakes, business was.said to be reviving throughout the southern districts, and great activity was noted in Iquique, especially in the saltpeter mines. But on the 20th of August, at 10.55 p.m., there was an earthquake of long duration, and of such force that all the people considered it prudent to place themselves in readiness in the streets, and a very large proportion, particularly of the tender sex, resorted to the hillsides for better security of their lives, exclaiming as they hurried along—"Misericordia! misericordia! Senora!" The first, and strongest, shock lasted for about two minutes, and in five minutes, was followed by another nearly equal in force and duration; after this there were several repetitions at intervals of about half an hour till three a.m. This earthquake had a closer resemblance to that of the 13th of August, JISGS, than any other that has taken place since. Imagine, says a correspondent, a population of 3000 to 5000 souls with the experience of last year fresh in their memories, in wild alarm running disorderly through the streets, fearing momentarily to be borne off to eternity by a sudden ingress of the sea. There (as at present all the houses are of wood) the chief danger to be apprehended is that from the sea.