As the third day drew to a close flames sprang pyramidically
from the crater, accompanied by loud thunder and electric flashes,
which rent the column of smoke hanging over the volcano. Eruptive matter
pouring from the northwest side plunged over the cliff, carrying down
rocks and woods in its course. The island was shaken by an earthquake
and bombarded with showers of cinders and stones, which set houses on
fire and killed many of the natives.
THE TERRIBLE EARTHQUAKE AT CARACAS
For nearly two years before this explosion earthquakes had been common,
and sea and land had been agitated from the valley of the Mississippi to
the coasts of Venezuela and the mountains of New Grenada, and from the
Azores to the West Indies. On March 26, 1812, these culminated in the
terrible tragedy, spoken of above, of which Humboldt gives us a vivid
account.
On that day the people of the Venezuelan city of Caracas were assembled
in the churches, beneath a still and blazing sky, when the earth
suddenly heaved and shook, like a great monster waking from slumber,
and in a single minute 10,000 people were buried beneath the walls of
churches and houses, which tumbled in hideous ruin upon their heads. The
same earthquake made itself felt along the whole line of the Northern
Cordilleras, working terrible destruction, and shook the earth as far
as Santa Fe de Bogota and Honda, 180 leagues from Caracas. This was a
preliminary symptom of the internal disorder of the earth.
Pages:
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431
432
433
434
435
436
437
438
439