Narrative of the surveying voyages of his majesty's ships Adventure and Beagle (vol.2): between the years 1826 and 1836 : describing their examination of the southern shores of South America, and the Beagles's circumnavigation of the globe

404 DESTRUCTION OF THE CITY. Feb. had been raised by falling buildings, began to disperse ; people breathed more freely, and dared to look around them. Ghastly and sepulchral was the sight. Had the graves opened and given up their dead, their appearance could scarcely have been more shocking. Pale and trembling, covered with dust and perspiration, they ran from place to place, calling for relations and friends ; and many seemed to be quite bereft of reason. Considerable shocks continued to harass and alarm at short intervals. The earth was never long quiet during that or the next day, nor indeed for the three days following the great shock ; and during many hours after the ruin, it was tremulous, and the shocks were very frequent, though not severe. Many of these, but not all, were preceded by a rumbling, subterranean noise, like distant thunder. Some compared the sound to the distant discharge of many pieces of artillery. These noises came from the south-west quarter, and preceded the shock by one or two seconds ; sometimes, but not often, the sound was unaccompanied by any shock. It was the general opinion that the motion was from south- west to north-east. Some whole walls, whose direction was south-east and north-west, were laid flat, the bricks still main- taining their relative position, though end-wise, without being scattered upon the ground. These walls fell, without excep- tion, to the north-east.* Others were scattered as they fell; but still the greatest masses of brick- work were thrown towards the north-east. Walls standing in the opposite direction, north- east and south-west, suffered far less : none fell bodily or in masses ; fragments were shaken or torn off ; and some of the walls were very much cracked,-f- but others suffered little. Houses built of ' adobes,';}; became confused heaps, and roofs fell in every where. The cathedral, whose walls were four feet in thickness, supported by great buttresses, and built of good brick and mortar,§ suffered more than other buildings. Ad- * The streets of Concepcion lie north-east and south-west: north- west and south-east. + Vertically, as if by the undulatory movement of the earth's surface in the direction of their length. J Large unbaked bricks. § Both bricks and mortar were excellent.