Gates A.E., Ritchie D. Encyclopedia of Earthquakes and Volcanoes
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292 Appendix A
1057, date unknown. Chihli, China, earthquake. 25,000
killed.
1101, date uncertain. Khoresan, Iran, earthquake. Mercalli
intensity X. Death toll 60,000.
1138, September 8. Aleppo, Syria, earthquake. 100,000–
250,000 killed.
1170, date unknown. Sicily, Italy, earthquake. 15,000 killed.
1268, date unknown. Cilicia, Asia Minor, earthquake.
60,000 killed.
1183, date uncertain. Tripoli, Libya, earthquake. More
than 20,000 people killed.
1290, September 27. Chihli, China, earthquake. 100,000
killed.
1293, May 20. Kamakura, Japan, earthquake. 30,000 killed.
1303, August 8. Rhodes, Greece, earthquake. More than
25,000 killed, including 10,000 in Alexandria, Egypt.
1362, date uncertain. Öraefajökull, Iceland, volcanic erup-
tion. Several dozen farms destroyed.
1456, date unknown. Naples, Italy, earthquake. 60,000
killed.
1493, October 3. Cos, Greece, earthquake. Estimated mag-
nitude 6.8. Death toll 5,000.
1509, September 10. Constantinople (Istanbul), Turkey,
earthquake. Mercalli intensity X. More than 13,000 killed.
1522, date uncertain. Masaya, Nicaragua, volcanic erup-
tion. Several towns destroyed.
1531, January 26. Lisbon, Portugal, earthquake. 30,000
killed.
1549, date uncertain. Nicaragua, eruption of Volcan de
Agua. Thousands of people killed.
1555, September. Kashmir, India, earthquake. Mercalli
intensity XII. Death toll up to 60,000.
1556, January 3. Shensi, China, earthquake. 830,000 killed.
1591, date uncertain. Taal, Luzon, Philippine Islands, vol-
canic eruption. Thousands of people reportedly died in this
eruption, the first recorded eruption of Taal. Other major
eruptions occurred in 1749 and 1754, on January 28 and 30,
1911, and on September 28, 1965.
1614, November 26. Echigo, Takata, Japan, earthquake.
Thousands of people are thought to have been killed by an
earthquake and subsequent tsunami.
1616, date uncertain.
Mayon, Philippine Islands, volca-
nic eruption. This was the first recorded eruption of Mayon.
Numerous villages were destroyed, and thousands of people
were killed. Another major eruption occurred on October
23–30, 1766, killing some 2,000 people. Mayon erupted
again on February 1, 1814, killing more than 2,000. Several
dozen were killed in another eruption in 1853. The eruption
of July 9, 1888, destroyed portions of two towns. An erup-
tion on June 23, 1897, killed several hundred people and
caused widespread destruction. Some 200 people reportedly
died in an eruption on July 1, 1928.
1623, date uncertain. Irazu, Costa Rica, volcanic eruption.
The death toll from this eruption is thought to be in the hun-
dreds.
1626, July 30. Naples, Italy, earthquake. This earthquake
wrecked the city, destroyed numerous villages, and killed
some 70,000 people. Another major earthquake in 1693
killed more than 90,000.
1650, date uncertain. Asamayama, Japan, volcanic erup-
tion. This eruption is believed to have killed several hundred
people. Another eruption in 1783 killed about 5,000 people.
1653, June 16. Khoresan, Iran, earthquake. Mercalli inten-
sity IX. More than 5,600 killed.
1663, February 5. Saint Lawrence River Valley, Canada,
earthquake. Maximum Mercalli intensity X. Casualty figures
unavailable. This earthquake was so powerful that it caused
damage to buildings in southern New England.
1667, date unknown. Shemaka, Caucasia, earthquake.
More than 80,000 killed.
1667, April 6. Monte Negro, Croatia, earthquake. Mercalli
intensity IX. More than 5,000 killed.
1668, July 25. Tancheng, China, earthquake. More than
50,000 people killed.
1688, July 10. Izmir (Smyrna), Turkey, earthquake. Mer-
calli intensity X. More than 20,000 killed.
1692, June 7. Port Royal, Jamaica, earthquake. More than
1,000 people died in this earthquake, which submerged a
large portion of the city.
1693, January 9–11. Catania, Italy, earthquake. 60,000
killed, although another estimate puts the death toll at
100,000. In the same year, in an earthquake in Naples, Italy,
some 93,000 were killed by another earthquake.
1698, date uncertain. Cotopaxi, Ecuador, volcanic erup-
tion. Hundreds of people were reported killed in this erup-
tion. Other major eruptions occurred in 1741 and 1744 and
on June 26, 1877.
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Appendix A 293
1702, February 25. Denizili, Turkey, earthquake. Mercalli
intensity X. More than 12,000 killed.
1703. Tokyo (Edo), Japan, earthquake. This earthquake
destroyed the city and reportedly took 200,000 lives.
1707, October 28. Tokaido, Japan, earthquake. Tsunami
kills 4,900 people.
1717, November 19. Denizili, Turkey, earthquake. Mercalli
intensity IX. More than 6,000 killed.
1721, April 26. Tabriz, Iran, earthquake. Likely 80,000
killed but may be up to 250,000.
1727, November 18. Tabriz, Iran earthquake. 77,000 killed
but could be confused with the 1721 event.
1731, November 30. Peking (Beijing), China, earthquake.
Some 100,000 people were reportedly killed.
1737, October 11. Calcutta, India, earthquake. 300,000
killed.
1754, September 10. Cairo, Egypt, earthquake. Magnitude
5.4. Death toll 40,000.
1755, June 7. Persia (in the vicinity of present-day Iran),
earthquake. 40,000 killed.
1755, November 1. Lisbon, Portugal, earthquake associ-
ated with a destructive tsunami. Up to 70,000 killed.
1766, May 22. Constantinople (Istanbul), Turkey, earth-
quake. Mercalli intensity IX with tsunami. Death toll 4,500.
1772, date uncertain. Papandajan, Java, Indonesia, volca-
nic eruption. Some 3,000 people were reported killed in this
eruption, which destroyed numerous villages as well as plan-
tations. The volcano lost more than 3,000 feet (923 m) of its
height in this eruption.
1779–1780, December through January. Sakurajima, Japan,
volcanic eruption. This eruption destroyed several villages.
Another eruption and accompanying earthquakes on January
12, 1914, destroyed many villages.
1780, February 28. Tabriz, Iran, earthquake. Death toll
50,000–60,000.
1783, February 4. Calabria, Italy, earthquake. Perhaps
40,000 killed. Another earthquake in 1797 is thought to have
killed an additional 50,000 people.
1783. Iceland and Japan, volcanic eruptions. A 1783 erup-
tion of the volcano Asamayama in Japan killed several thou-
sand people. Between mid-June and early August, an eruption
of Skaptarjöokull in Iceland caused widespread destruction of
property and loss of life, killing several thousand people. Also
in June, a great flow of lava occurred at Laki in Iceland, cov-
ering more than 100,000 acres of land with molten rock and
killing some 10,000 people.
1790, October 9. Oran, Algeria, earthquake. Mercalli inten-
sity X. Death toll 3,000.
1792, February 10. Unzen, Japan, volcanic eruption. This
eruption killed some 15,000 people and destroyed two cities.
1793, date uncertain.
Miyi-Yama, Java, Indonesia, volcanic
eruption. This eruption is believed to have killed more than
50,000 people.
1797, February 4. Quito, Ecuador, earthquake. 40,000
killed.
1800, date uncertain. Mount Guntur, Java, Indonesia, vol-
canic eruption. This eruption killed several hundred people,
and a lava flow reportedly filled a valley.
1811, December 16. New Madrid, Missouri, United States,
earthquake. Estimated at Mercalli intensity XI, this earth-
quake was one of a series of extremely powerful temblors
that struck the New Madrid area (near St. Louis, Missouri,
and Memphis, Tennessee) in the winter of 1811–12. Other
great earthquakes in this series took place on January 23
and February 7, 1812. Casualties occurred but are thought
to have been few in number because the area affected was
sparsely settled at the time.
1812, March 26. Caracas, Venezuela, earthquake. More
than 10,000 killed.
1812, December 21. Near Santa Barbara, California, Unit-
ed States, earthquake, with possible associated tsunami. Mer-
calli intensity X. Several persons are thought to have been
injured.
1815, April 5. Tambora, near Java, Indonesia, volcanic
eruption. This volcano’s 1815 eruption was one of the most
powerful in history and killed tens of thousands of people.
The exact final death toll from Tambora’s 1815 eruption is
difficult to estimate because airborne particulate from the
explosion are believed to have played a part in cooling global
climate over the following year, disrupting agriculture and
causing the famous “year without a summer.”
1819, June 16. Kutch, India, earthquake. More than 1,500
killed.
1822, October. Galung Gung, Java, Indonesia, volcanic
eruption. Two eruptions of Galung Gung killed several thou-
sand people altogether and destroyed hundreds of villages.
1822, November 19. Valparaiso, Chile, earthquake. Death
toll 10,000.
1822, date unknown. Aleppo, Asia Minor, earthquake.
Some 22,000 killed.
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294 Appendix A
1828, December 18. Echigo, Japan, earthquake. 30,000
killed.
1842, May 7. Cap-Hatien, Haiti, earthquake. Tsunami
killed 5,000–10,000.
1847, date unknown. Zenkoji, Japan, earthquake. Some
34,000 killed.
1850, September 12. Xichang, China, earthquake. Mercalli
intensity X. More than 20,650 killed.
1853, May 4. Shiraz, Iran, earthquake. Mercalli intensity
VIII. Death toll 12,000.
1854, December 23. Ansei Tokai, Japan, earthquake.
Between 5,000 and 31,000 people killed.
1855, November 11. Tokyo, Japan, earthquake. Death toll
6,757.
1857, January 9. Fort Tejon, California, United States,
earthquake. One of the most powerful earthquakes in Ameri-
can history, the Fort Tejon earthquake is ranked at Mer-
calli intensity X or above and involved a rupture of the San
Andreas Fault.
1857, March 21. Tokyo, Japan, earthquake. More than
100,000 people are thought to have died in this earthquake.
1859, March 22. Quito, Ecuador, earthquake. Death toll
5,000.
1863, August 13. Bolivia and Peru, earthquake. 25,000
killed.
1868, August 16. Colombia and Ecuador, earthquake.
70,000 killed.
1872, March 26. Owens Valley, California, United States,
earthquake. The Owens Valley earthquake is thought to have
killed some 50 to 60 people.
1875, May 18. Cucuta, Colombia, earthquake. Estimated
magnitude 7.3. Death toll 10,000–16,000 people.
1881, April 3. Chios, Greece, earthquake. Estimated magni-
tude 6.5. Tsunami kills 7,000 people and injures 20,000.
1883, August 27. Krakatoa, Sunda Strait, Indonesia, volca-
nic eruption. The 1883 eruption of Krakatoa killed perhaps
50,000 people and generated a tsunami, or seismic sea wave,
that circled the globe several times before dissipating. The
wave caused tremendous destruction along shorelines near
the volcano.
1884. Ramapo Fault, New Jersey, earthquake. Magnitude
5.4. Rang church bells in Connecticut.
1885, May 30. Sringar, India, earthquake. Death toll
3,200.
1886, August 31. Charleston, South Carolina, United
States, earthquake. The Charleston earthquake caused tre-
mendous property damage and killed some 60 people. Exact-
ly what caused this earthquake is still uncertain.
1887, February 23.
Riviera, France-Italy, earthquake. Mer-
calli intensity X. Tsunami kills more than 2,000 people.
1891, October 28. Mino-Owari, Japan, earthquake. 7,000
killed.
1895, January 17. Quchan, Iran, earthquake. Up to 11,000
killed.
1896, June 15. Riku-Ugo, Japan, earthquake. More than
20,000 killed. A tsunami was associated with this earth-
quake.
1897, June 12. Assam, India, earthquake. Magnitude 8.7.
More than 1,000 killed.
1898, November 17. Quchan, Iran, earthquake. Up to
18,000 killed. Possible confusion with 1895 event.
1902, May 6–13. Soufrière, Saint Vincent, Caribbean, vol-
canic eruption. The death toll from this eruption of Soufrière
is estimated at 3,000.
1902, May 8. Mount Pelée, Martinique, Caribbean, volca-
nic eruption. The 1902 eruption of Pelée is among the most
spectacular and thoroughly documented eruptions. More
than 30,000 people are thought to have died in this eruption,
which destroyed the city of Saint Pierre. Another eruption of
Pelée on August 30 added to the destruction.
1902, October 24. Santa María, Guatemala, volcanic erup-
tion. Some 6,000 people were killed.
1902, December 16. Andijan, Turkistan, earthquake. Mag-
nitude 6.4. Between 4,500 and 10,000 killed.
1905, April 4. Kangra, India, earthquake. Magnitude 7.8.
About 20,000 killed.
1906, April 18. San Francisco, California, United States,
earthquake. Magnitude approximately 8.2. The San Francis-
co earthquake and fire that followed destroyed the city. An
estimated 700 to 2,000 people were killed.
1906, August 16. Valparaiso, Chile, earthquake. Magnitude
8.4. Between 1,500 and 20,000 deaths.
1908, December 28. Messina, Sicily, Italy, earthquake.
Magnitude 7.5. 120,000 killed, although another estimate
says 160,000.
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Appendix A 295
1915, January 13. Avezzano, Italy, earthquake. Magnitude
7.0. 30,000 killed.
1918, February 15. Kwangtung, China, earthquake. Magni-
tude 7.3. More than 10,000 deaths.
1920, December 16. Kansu, China, earthquake. An earth-
quake caused extensive destruction and took an estimated
180,000 lives.
1923, September 1. Tokyo, Japan, Kanto earthquake. Mag-
nitude 7.9 to 8.3. The earthquake was accompanied by fire
and destroyed much of Tokyo. More than 140,000 were
killed.
1927, March 7. Tango, Japan, earthquake. Tsunami kills
more than 2,900 people.
1927, May 22. Kansu, China, earthquake. Estimated
100,000 people killed.
1931, December 13–28. Merapi, Java, Indonesia, volcanic
eruption. More than 1,000 people are thought to have died
in this eruption.
1932, December 25. Kansu, China, earthquake. Estimated
70,000 people killed.
1934, January 16. Nepal, earthquake. More than 9,000 are
believed to have been killed.
1935, May 31. Quetta, India, earthquake. Magnitude 7.5.
60,000 killed.
1939, January 24. Chillan, Chile, earthquake. Magnitude
approximately 7.7. Perhaps 50,000 killed.
1939, December 26. Erzincan, Turkey, earthquake. Mag-
nitude 7.9. Tsunami on the Black Sea. More than 33,000
killed.
1941, June 26. Andaman Islands, India, earthquake. Mag-
nitude 7.7 Earthquake and tsunami kills more than 5,000
people.
1944, June 10. Paricutín, Mexico, volcanic eruption.
Paricutín, a volcano that arose rapidly in a field beginning
in 1943 and grew to be more than 1,200 feet (369 m) tall,
erupted violently, and destroyed nearby towns.
1945, November 27. Makran, Pakistan, earthquake. Mag-
nitude 8.0. Tsunami kills more than 4,000 people.
1946, November 10. Ancash, Peru, earthquake. Magnitude
7.4. Death toll 1,400.
1948, October 6. Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, earthquake.
Magnitude 7.3. Death toll 60,000–70,000.
1949, August 5. Pelilo, Ecuador, earthquake. Magnitude
7.5. Death toll 6,000, with 20,000 injured and 100,000
homeless.
1950, August 15. Arunachal Pradesh, India, earthquake.
Magnitude 8.6. Death toll 1,526.
1951, January 21. Mount Lamington, Papua New Guinea,
volcanic eruption.
One of the most destructive of modern
times, this eruption killed some 6,000 people.
1960, February 29. Agadir, Morocco, earthquake. Magni-
tude 5.9. Estimated 12,000 killed.
1962, September 1. Northwestern Iran, earthquake. Magni-
tude 7.3. 14,000 killed.
1963, July 26. Skopje, Yugoslavia, earthquake. 1,500 to
2,000 killed; most of city destroyed.
1964, March 27. Alaska, United States, earthquake. Mag-
nitude 9.1. The Good Friday earthquake, as this event was
known, was accompanied by a highly destructive and far-
reaching tsunami. More than 100 people were killed.
1968, August 31. Iran, earthquake. Magnitude 7.4. More
than 15,000 killed.
1970, May 30. Peru, earthquake. Magnitude 7.8. More
than 60,000 killed.
1971, February 9. San Fernando, California, United States,
earthquake. Magnitude 6.5. The San Fernando earthquake
killed fewer than 100 people, but that figure could have been
much higher if the earthquake had lasted slightly longer.
1972, December 23. Managua, Nicaragua, earthquake.
Magnitude 6.2. Estimated 11,000 killed.
1974, December 28. Patan, Pakistan, earthquake. Magni-
tude 6.3. Death toll 5,300, with 15,000 injured.
1976, February 4. Guatemala, earthquake. Magnitude 7.9.
More than 23,000 killed.
1976, July 28. Tangshan, China, earthquake. Magnitude
7.6. Approximately 700,000 killed.
1976, August 17. Moro Gulf, Philippines, earthquake.
Magnitude 7.9. Tsunami kills about 7,000 people, with
10,000 injured.
1976, November 24. Muradive, Turkey, earthquake. Mag-
nitude 7.3–7.9. More than 5,000 killed.
1977, March 4. Bucharest, Romania, earthquake. Magni-
tude 7.4. Between 1,570 and 2,000 killed.
1978, September 16. Iran, earthquake. 25,000 killed.
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296 Appendix A
1980, May 18. Mount Saint Helens, Washington, Unit-
ed States, volcanic eruption. One of the most intensively
documented and studied eruptions of all time, the eruption
destroyed some 150 square miles (385 km
2
) of timber and
caused $1.5 billion or more in total damage. More than 100
people were reported dead or missing.
1980, October 10. El Asnam, Algeria, earthquake. Magni-
tude 7.7. More than 3,000 killed.
1982. El Chichón, southern Mexico, volcanic eruption. The
eruption injected some 20,000,000 metric tons of sulfuric
acid droplets into the atmosphere. The aerosols lowered the
temperature in the Northern Hemisphere by 0.5°C.
1982, December 13. Northern Yemen, earthquake. 2,800
killed.
1983, May 2. Coalinga, California, United States, earth-
quake. $30 million in damage reported.
1983, May 26. Honshu¯, Japan, tsunami. 81 killed.
1985, September 19. Mexico City, Mexico, earthquake.
Magnitude 8.1. Some 8,500 killed. Although this earthquake
originated along the Pacific coast of Mexico, it caused great
destruction in Mexico City because portions of the city were
built on the unstable sediments of a former lake bed.
1986, August 21. Cameroon, volcanic event. An escape of
volcanic gas from a lake bed killed some 1,700 people.
1987, October 1. Southern California, United States, earth-
quake. $200 million damage.
1988, December 7. Armenia, earthquake. Magnitude 6.8.
25,000 killed.
1989, October 17. San Francisco, California, United States,
earthquake. 67 killed; $5 billion in damage.
1990, June 21. Gilan, Iran, earthquake. Magnitude 7.7.
More than 50,000 people killed, 200,000 injured, and
500,000 homeless.
1990, July 16. Luzon, Philippine Islands, earthquake. 700
killed.
1991, June 10–17. Mount Pinatubo, Philippine Islands, vol-
canic eruption. 900 killed.
1992, December 10. Island of Flores, Indonesia, earth-
quake. More than 1,000 killed.
1993, September 30. Maharashta, India, earthquake. 16
villages destroyed; many others damaged. Tens of thousands
killed.
1994, January 17. Northridge, California, earthquake.
Magnitude 6.7. Some $20 billion in damage, the Los Angeles
area was devastated. Aftershocks continued for more than a
year causing widespread psychological problems.
1995, January 22. Kobe, Japan, earthquake. Magnitude
6.8. More than 5,500 people killed. Extensive damage.
1995, May 28. Sakhalin, Russia, earthquake. Magnitude
7.6. About 2,000 killed.
1995–1997. Soufrière Hills, Montserrat, volcanic eruption.
The island resort is completely destroyed.
1998, May 30.
Mazar-e Sharif, Afghanistan, earthquake.
Magnitude 6.5. More than 4,000 people killed.
1998, July 17. Sissano, New Guinea, earthquake. Magni-
tude 7.1. Some 2,700 people killed, including those from a
resulting tsunami.
1999, January 25. Armenia, Colombia, earthquake. Magni-
tude 6.2. Some 1,900 people killed.
1999, August 7. Izmit, Turkey, earthquake. Magnitude 7.6.
More than 17,000 killed.
1999, September 20. Tai-Chung, Taiwan, earthquake. Mag-
nitude 7.6. More than 2,400 people killed. More than $14
billion in damage.
2000, May 4. Sulawesi, Indonesia, earthquake. Magnitude
7.6. More than 46 people killed; 264 injured. Extensive dam-
age and power outages.
2000, June 4. Southern Sumatra, Indonesia, earthquake.
Magnitude 8.0. More than 103 people killed; 2,174 injured.
2000, July 14. Kodiak Island region, Alaska, earthquake.
Magnitude 6.8.
2000, September 3. Northern California, United States,
earthquake. Magnitude 5.2. More than 41 people injured in
the Napa area. Felt in much of northern California from Sac-
ramento to Santa Rosa and south to the San Francisco Bay.
2001, January 1. Mindanao, Philippines, earthquake. Mag-
nitude 7.3.
2001, January 13. Off the coast of Central America, earth-
quake. Magnitude 7.7. More than 844 people killed; 4,723
people injured. 108,226 houses destroyed and 150,000
buildings damaged in El Salvador. Felt from Mexico City to
Colombia.
2001, January 26. Gujarat, India, earthquake. Magni-
tude 7.9. Confirmed at least 20,000 people killed; another
166,812 injured. 600,000 homeless.
2001, February 13. El Salvador, earthquake. Magnitude
6.6. At least 315 people killed; 3,000 injured. Extensive dam-
age. Landslides occurred in various areas of the country.
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Appendix A 297
2001, February 28. Seattle, Washington, United States,
earthquake. Magnitude 6.8. More than 215 people injured.
Damage is estimated to be in the billions.
2001, March 24. Hiroshima, Japan, earthquake. Magnitude
6.4. Approximately 150 injured; 3 people reported killed.
500 homes destroyed.
2001, March 28. Minahasa, North Sulawesi, Indonesia,
volcanic eruption and earthquake. Magnitude 5.4. Mount
Lokon erupted at practically the same time as an earthquake
hit Bengkulu town. No casualties reported to date.
2003, May 21. Algiers, Algeria, earthquake. Magnitude 6.8.
Death toll 2,266, with 150,000 homeless.
2003, December 26. Bam, Iran, earthquake. Magnitude
6.7. More than 43,000 killed and 90,000 left homeless.
2004, March 28. Northern Indonesia, aftershock earth-
quake. Magnitude 8.7. More than 1,000 people killed.
2004, December 26. Banda Aceh, Indonesia, earthquake.
Magnitude 9.0. Huge tsunami devastates entire Indian Ocean
basin. More than 283,100 people killed and 1,126,900 home-
less.
2005, October 8. Muzaffarabad, Pakistan, earthquake.
Magnitude 7.6. Some 86,000 people killed and at least 2.5
million homeless.
2006, May 27. Bantul, Indonesia, earthquake. Magnitude
6.3 earthquake struck the Bantul-Yogyakarta area during a
nearby eruption of Mount Merapi. Approximately 6,300
people killed.
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299
EYEWITNESS ACCOUNTS OF MAJOR
ERUPTIONS AND QUAKES
Eruption of Vesuvius, A.D. 79
Roman naturalist and naval officer Pliny the Elder and
his nephew Pliny the Younger are remembered in connec-
tion with the catastrophic eruption of Vesuvius in
A.D. 79,
which destroyed the nearby cities of Pompeii and Hercula-
neum. Pliny the Elder was killed in the eruption, and Pliny
the Younger described it, together with his uncle’s death, in
a pair of letters written to the historian Tacitus. Although
thought to be inaccurate in some respects, Pliny’s letters are
worth quoting at length:
Your request that I should send an account of my uncle’s
death, in order to transmit a more exact relation of it to
posterity, deserves my acknowledgments. . . .
He was at that time with the fleet under his com-
mand at Misenum. On the 24th of August, about one in
the afternoon, my mother desired him to observe a cloud
which appeared of a very unusual size and shape. He had
just returned from taking the benefit of the sun, and, after
bathing himself in cold water, and taking a slight repast,
had retired to his study. He immediately arose and went
out upon an eminence, from whence he might distinctly
view this very uncommon appearance. It was not at that
distance discernible from what mountain the cloud issued,
but it was found afterward to ascend from Mount Vesuvi-
us. I cannot give a more exact description of its figure than
by comparing it to that of a pine tree, for it shot up to a
great height in the form of a trunk, which extended itself
at the top into a sort of branches . . . it appeared some-
times bright, and sometimes dark and spotted, as it was
more or less impregnated with earth and cinders.
This extraordinary phenomenon excited my uncle’s
philosophical curiosity to take a nearer view of it. He
ordered a light vessel to be got ready. . . . As he was pass-
ing out of the house he received dispatches: the marines at
Retina, terrified by the imminent peril (for the place lay
beneath the mountain, and there was no retreat but by
ships), entreated his aid in this extremity. He accordingly
changed his first design, and what he began with a philo-
sophical he now pursued with an heroical turn of mind.
He ordered the galleys to put to sea, and went himself
on board with an intention of assisting not only Retina
but many other places, for the population is thick on that
beautiful coast. When hastening to the place from which
others fled with the utmost terror, he steered a direct
course to the point of danger, and with so much calmness
and presence of mind, as to be able to make and dictate his
observations upon the motion and figure of that dreadful
scene. He was now so nigh the mountain that the cinders,
which grew thicker and hotter the nearer he approached,
fell into the ships, together with pumice-stones, and black
pieces of burning rock; they were in danger of not only
being left around by the sudden retreat of the sea, but
also from the vast fragments which rolled down from the
mountain, and obstructed all the shore.
Here he stopped to consider whether he should
return back again; to which the pilot advised him. “For-
tune,” said he, “favors the brave; carry me to Pompon-
ianus.” Pomponianus was then at Stabiae, separated by
a gulf, which the sea, after several insensible windings,
forms upon the shore. He (Pomponianus) had already
sent his baggage on board; for though he was not at that
time in actual danger, yet being within view of it, and
indeed extremely near, if it should in the least increase, he
was determined to put to sea as soon as the wind should
change. It was favorable, however, for carrying my uncle
to Pomponianus, whom he found in the greatest conster-
nation. He embraced him with tenderness, encouraging
and exhorting him to keep up his spirits; and the more to
dissipate his fears he ordered, with an air of unconcern,
the baths to be got ready; when, after having bathed, he
APPENDIX B
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300 Appendix B
sat down to supper with great cheerfulness, or at least
(what is equally heroic) with all the appearance of it.
In the meantime, the eruption from Mount Vesuvius
flamed out in several places with much violence, which
the darkness of the night contributed to render still more
visible and dreadful. But my uncle, in order to soothe the
apprehensions of his friend, assured him it was only the
burning of the villages, which the country people had
abandoned to the flames; after this he retired to rest, and
it was most certain he was so little discomposed as to fall
into a deep sleep; for, [as he was] pretty fat, and breathing
hard, those who attended him actually heard him snore.
The court which led to his apartment being now almost
filled with stones and ashes, if he had continued there any
longer it would have been impossible for him to have made
his way out; it was thought proper, therefore, to awaken
him. He got up and went to Pomponianus and the rest
of his company. . . . They consulted together whether it
would be most prudent to trust to the houses, which now
shook from side to side with frequent and violent concus-
sions; or to fly to the open fields, where the calcined stone
and cinders, though light indeed, yet fell in large showers
and threatened destruction. In this distress they resolved
for the fields as the less dangerous situation of the two—a
resolution which, while the rest of the company were hur-
ried into it by their fears, my uncle embraced upon cool
and deliberate consideration.
They went out, then, having pillows tied upon their
heads with napkins; and this was their whole defense
against the storm of stones that fell around them. It was
now day everywhere else, but there a deeper darkness pre-
vailed than in the most obscure night; which, however,
was in some degree dissipated by torches and other lights
of various kinds. They thought proper to go down further
upon the shore, to observe if they might safely put out to
sea; but they found that the waves still ran extremely high
and boisterous. There my uncle, having drunk a draught
or two of cold water, threw himself down upon a cloth
which was spread for him, when immediately the flames,
and a strong smell of sulfur which was the forerunner of
them, dispersed the rest of the company, and obliged him
to rise. He raised himself up with the assistance of two of
his servants, and instantly fell down dead, suffocated, as
I conjecture, by some gross and noxious vapor, having
always had weak lungs, and being frequently subject to a
difficulty of breathing.
As soon as it was light again, which was not until
the third day after this melancholy accident, his body was
found entire, and without any marks of violence upon it,
exactly in the same posture as that in which he fell, and
looking more like a man asleep than dead . . .
My uncle having left us [Pliny the Younger writes], I
pursued [my] studies till it was time to bathe. After which
I went to suppose, and from thence to bed, where my
sleep was greatly broken and disturbed. There had been,
for many days before, some shocks of an earthquake,
which the less surprised us as they are extremely frequent
in Campania; but they were so particularly violent that
night, that they not only shook everything around us, but
seemed, indeed, to threaten total destruction. My mother
flew to my chamber, where she found me rising in order
to awaken her. We went out into a small court belonging
to the house, which separated the sea from the buildings.
As I was at that time but eighteen years of age, I know
not whether I should call my behavior, in this dangerous
juncture, courage or rashness; but I took up [the historian]
Livy, and amused myself with turning over that author,
and even making extracts from him, as if all about me
had been in full security. While we were in this posture,
a friend of my uncle’s, who was just come from Spain to
pay us a visit, joined us; and observing me sitting with
my mother with a book in my hand, greatly condemned
her calmness at the same time that he reproved me for my
careless [air of] security. Nevertheless, I still went on with
my author.
Though it was now morning, the light was exceeding-
ly faint and languid; the buildings all around us tottered;
and, though we stood upon open ground, yet as the place
was narrow and confined, we therefore resolved to quit
the town. The people followed us in the utmost consterna-
tion, and, as to a mind distracted with terror every sug-
gestion seems more prudent than its own, pressed in great
crowds about us in our way out.
Being got to a convenient distance from the houses,
we stood still, in the midst of a most dangerous and dread-
ful scene. The chariots which we had ordered to be drawn
out were so agitated backwards and forwards, though
upon the most level ground, that we could not keep them
steady, even by supporting them with large stones. The sea
seemed to roll back upon itself, and to be driven from its
banks by the convulsive motion of the earth; it is certain at
least that the shore was considerably enlarged, and many
sea animals were left upon it. On the other side a black
and dreadful cloud, bursting with an igneous serpentine
vapor, darted out a long train of fire, resembling flashes of
lightning, but much larger.
Upon this the Spanish friend whom I have mentioned,
addressed himself to my mother and me with great warmth
and earnestness; “If your brother and your uncle,” said he,
“is safe, he certainly wishes you to be so too; but if he has
perished, it was his desire, no doubt, that you might both
survive him: why therefore do you delay your escape for
a moment?” We could never think of our own safety, we
said, while we were uncertain of his. Hereupon our friend
left us, and withdrew with the utmost precipitation. Soon
afterward, the cloud seemed to descend, and cover the
whole ocean; as it certainly did the island of Capreae, and
the promontory of Misenum. My mother strongly [urged]
me to make my escape . . . as for herself, she said, her age
and corpulency rendered all attempts of that sort impos-
sible. . . . But I absolutely refused to leave her, and tak-
ing her by the hand, I led her on; she complied with great
reluctance, and not without many reproaches to herself for
retarding my flight.
The ashes now began to fall upon us, though in no
great quantity. I turned my head and observed behind us
a thick smoke, which came rolling after us like a torrent.
I proposed, while we yet had any light, to turn out of the
high road lest she should be pressed to death in the dark
by the crowd that followed us. We had scarce stepped
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Appendix B 301
out of the path when darkness overspread us, not like
that of a cloudy night, or when there is no moon, but of
a room when it is all shut up and all the lights are extinct.
Nothing then was to be heard but the shrieks of women,
the screams of children and the cries of men; some call-
ing for their children, others for their parents, others for
their husbands, and only distinguishing each other by
their voices; one lamenting his own fate, another that
of his family; some wishing to die from the very fear of
dying. . . . Among them were some who augmented the
real terrors by imaginary ones, and made the freighted
multitude believe that Misenum was actually in flames.
At length a glimmering light appeared, which we
imagined to be rather the forerunner of an approach-
ing burst of flames, as in truth it was, than the return
of day. However, the fire fell at a distance from us; then
again we were immersed in thick darkness, and a heavy
shower of ashes rained upon us, which we were obliged
every now and then to shake off, otherwise we should
have been crushed and buried in the heap. . . . At last
this dreadful darkness was dissipated by degrees, like a
cloud of smoke; the real day returned, and soon the sun
appeared, though very faintly, and as when an eclipse is
coming on. Every object that presented itself to our eyes
(which were extremely weakened) seemed changed, being
covered over with white ashes, as with a deep snow. We
returned to Misenum, where we refreshed ourselves as
well as we could, and passed an anxious night between
hope and fear, for the earthquake still continued, while
several greatly excited people ran up and down, heighten-
ing their own and their friends’ calamities by terrible pre-
dictions. . . .
Earthquake at Concepción, Chile, February 20, 1835
In his memoir The Voyage of the Beagle, Charles Darwin
described the February 20, 1835, earthquake at Concepción,
Chile and its results:
This day has been memorable in the annals of Valdavia,
for the most severe earthquake experienced by the old-
est inhabitant. I happened to be on shore, and was lying
down in the wood to rest myself. It came on suddenly, and
lasted two minutes, but the time appeared much longer.
The rocking of the ground was very sensible. The undula-
tions appeared to my companion and myself to come from
due east, whilst others thought they proceeded from south-
west: this shows how difficult it sometimes is to perceive
the directions of the vibrations. There was no difficulty in
standing upright, but the motion made me almost giddy:
it was something like the movement of a vessel in a little
cross-ripple, or still more like that felt by a person skating
over thin ice, which bends under the weight of his body.
A bad earthquake at once destroys our oldest asso-
ciations: the earth, the very emblem of solidity, has moved
beneath our feet like a thin crust over a fluid;—one second
of time has created in the mind a strange idea of insecu-
rity, which hours of reflection would not have produced.
In the forest, as a breeze moved the trees, I felt only the
earth tremble, but saw no other effect. Captain FitzRoy
and some officers were in town during the shock, and
there the scene was more striking; for although the houses,
from being built of wood, did not fall, they were violently
shaken, and the boards creaked and rattled together. The
people rushed out of doors in the greatest alarm. It is these
accompaniments that create the perfect horror of earth-
quakes, experienced by all who have thus seen, as well as
felt, their effects. Within the forest it was a deeply inter-
esting, but by no means an awe-exciting phenomenon.
The tides were very curiously affected. The great shock
took place at the time of low water; and an old woman
who was on the beach told me that the water flowed very
quickly, but not in great waves, to high-water mark, and
then as quickly returned to its proper level; this was also
evident by the line of wet sand. The same kind of quick
but quiet movement in the tide happened a few years since
at Chiloe, during a slight earthquake, and created much
causeless alarm. In the course of the evening there were
many weaker shocks, which seemed to produce in the
harbor the most complicated currents, and some of great
strength.
March 4th.—We entered the harbor of Concepcion.
While the ship was beating up to the anchorage, I landed
on the island of Quiriquina. The mayor-domo of the estate
quickly rode down to tell me the terrible news of the great
earthquake of the 20th:—“That not a house in Concep-
cion or Talcahuano (the port) was standing; that seventy
villages were destroyed; and that a great wave had almost
washed away the ruins of Talcahuano.” Of this latter
statement I soon saw abundant proofs—the whole coast
being strewn over with timber and furniture as if a thou-
sand ships had been wrecked. Besides chairs, tables, book-
shelves, etc., in great numbers, there were several roofs of
cottages, which had been transported almost whole. The
storehouses at Talcahuano had been burst open, and great
bags of cotton, yerba, and other valuable merchandise
were scattered on the shore. During my walk round the
island, I observed that numerous fragments of rock, which,
from the marine productions adhering to them, must have
been lying recently in deep water, had been cast up high
on the beach; one of these was six feet long, three broad,
and two thick.
The island itself as plainly showed the overwhelm-
ing power of the earthquake, as the beach did that of
the consequent great wave. The ground in many parts
was fissured in north and south lines, perhaps caused by
the yielding of the parallel and steep sides of this narrow
island. Some of the fissures near the cliffs were a yard
wide. Many enormous masses had already fallen on the
beach; and the inhabitants thought that when the rains
commenced far greater slips would happen. The effect of
the vibration on the hard primary slate, which composes
the foundation of the island, was still more curious: the
superficial parts of some narrow ridges were as completely
shivered as if they had been blasted by gunpowder. This
effect, which was rendered conspicuous by the fresh frac-
tures and the displaced soil, must be confined to near the
surface, for otherwise there would not exist a block of
solid rock throughout Chile; nor is this improbable, as it
is known that the surface of a vibrating body is affected
differently from the central part. It is, perhaps, owing to
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