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Alexander von Humboldt: „[Earthquake at Caraccas]“, in: ders., Sämtliche Schriften digital, herausgegeben von Oliver Lubrich und Thomas Nehrlich, Universität Bern 2021. URL: <https://humboldt.unibe.ch/text/1819-Baron_Humboldts_Personal_Heft1-05-neu> [abgerufen am 29.03.2024].

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Titel [Earthquake at Caraccas]
Jahr 1819
Ort Cambridge
Nachweis
in: The Cambridge Chronicle and Journal, And Huntingdonshire Gazette 2971 (1. Oktober 1819), [o. S.].
Sprache Englisch
Typografischer Befund Antiqua; Spaltensatz; Auszeichnung: Kursivierung.
Identifikation
Textnummer Druckausgabe: III.62
Dateiname: 1819-Baron_Humboldts_Personal_Heft1-05-neu
Statistiken
Seitenanzahl: 1
Spaltenanzahl: 2
Zeichenanzahl: 6637

Weitere Fassungen
Baron Humboldt’s Last Volume. Personal Narrative of Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of the New Continent. Vol. 4. London, 1819 (New York City, New York, 1819, Englisch)
The gymnotus, or electrical eel (New York City, New York, 1819, Englisch)
Humboldt’s Travels (London, 1819, Englisch)
Electrical eels (Cambridge, 1819, Englisch)
[Earthquake at Caraccas] (Cambridge, 1819, Englisch)
Account of the Earthquake which destroyed the Town of Caraccas on the 26th March 1812 (Edinburgh, 1819, Englisch)
Account of the earthquake that destroyed the town of Caraccas on the twenty-sixth march, 1812 (Liverpool, 1819, Englisch)
Sur les Gymnotes et autres poissons électriques (Paris, 1819, Französisch)
An Account of the Earthquake in South America, on the 26th March, 1812 (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1820, Englisch)
[Earthquake at Caraccas] (Hartford, Connecticut, 1820, Englisch)
Account of the Elecrical Eels, and of the Method of catching them in South America by means of Wild Horses (Edinburgh, 1820, Englisch)
Observations respecting the Gymnotes, and other Electric Fish (London, 1820, Englisch)
[Earthquake at Caraccas] (Hallowell, Maine, 1820, Englisch)
Earthquake in the Caraccas (London, 1820, Englisch)
Sur les Gymnotes et autres poissons électriques (Paris, 1820, Französisch)
[Earthquake at Caraccas] (Hartford, Connecticut, 1821, Englisch)
Earthquake at Caraccas (London, 1822, Englisch)
Earthquake at the Caraccas (Shrewsbury, 1823, Englisch)
Electrical eel (Hartford, Connecticut, 1826, Englisch)
Baron Humboldt’s observation on the gymnotus, or electrical eel (London, 1833, Englisch)
The gymnotus, or electric eel (London, 1834, Englisch)
Earthquake at Caraccas in 1812 (Hartford, Connecticut, 1835, Englisch)
Earthquake at Caraccas (London, 1837, Englisch)
Electrical eels (London, 1837, Englisch)
Female presence of mind (London, 1837, Englisch)
An earthquake in the Caraccas (London, 1837, Englisch)
An Earthquake (Leipzig; Hamburg; Itzehoe, 1838, Englisch)
Das Erdbeben von Caraccas (Leipzig, 1843, Deutsch)
The Gymnotus, or Electrical Eel (Buffalo, New York, 1849, Englisch)
Anecdote of a Crocodile (Boston, Massachusetts; New York City, New York, 1853, Englisch)
Battle with electric eels (Goldsboro, North Carolina, 1853, Englisch)
Anecdotes of crocodiles (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1853, Englisch)
Das Erdbeben von Caracas (Leipzig, 1858, Deutsch)
|Seitenumbruch| |Spaltenumbruch| The following account of the Earthquakeat Caraccas, on the 26th March 1812, is ex-tracted from Humboldt’s Travels:— “A great drought prevailed at this period in theprovince of Venezuela. Not a single drop of rainhad fallen at Caraccas, or in the country ninetyleagues round, during the five months which pre-ceded the destruction of the capital. The 26thof March was a remarkably hot day. The air wascalm, and the sky unclouded. It was Holy Thurs-day, and a great part of the population was as-sembled in the churches. Nothing seemed to presagethe calamities of the day. At seven minutes afterfour in the afternoon the first shock was felt; it wassufficiently powerful to make the bells of the churchestoll; it lasted five or six seconds, during which time,the ground was in a continual undulating movement,and seemed to heave up like a boiling liquid. Thedanger was thought to be past, when a tremendoussubterraneous noise was heard, resembling the roll-ing of thunder, but louder, and of longer conti-nuance, than that heard within the tropics in timeof storms. This noise preceded a perpendicularmotion of three or four seconds, followed by anundulatory movement somewhat longer. The shockswere in opposite directions, from north to south, andfrom east to west. Nothing could resist the move-ment from beneath upward, and undulations cross-ing each other. The town of Caraccas was entirelyoverthrown. Thousands of the inhabitants (betweennine and ten thousand) were buried under the ruinsof the houses and churches. The procession had notyet set out; but the crowd was so great in thechurches, that nearly three or four thousand personswere crushed by the fall of their vaulted roofs. Theexplosion was stronger toward the north, in that partof the town situate nearest the mountain of Avila, andthe Silla. The churches of la Trinidad and AltaGracia, which were more than one hundred andfifty feet high, and the naves of which were sup-ported by pillars of twelve or fifteen feet diameter,left a mass of ruins scarcely exceeding five or sixfeet in elevation. The sinking of the ruins has beenso considerable, that there now scarcely remain anyvestiges of pillars or columns. The barracks, called El Quartel de San Carlos, situate farther north of thechurch of the Trinity, on the road from the Custom-house de la Pastora, almost entirely disappeared. Aregiment of troops of the line, that was assembledunder arms, ready to join the procession, was, withthe exception of a few men, buried under the ruinsof this great edifice. Nine tenths of the fine townof Caraccas were entirely destroyed. The walls ofthe houses that were not thrown down, as those ofthe street San Juan, near the Capuchin Hospital,were cracked in such a manner, that it was impossi-ble to run the risk of inhabiting them. The effectsof the earthquake were somewhat less violent in thewestern and southern parts of the city, between theprincipal square and the ravin of Caraguata. There,the cathedral, supported by enormous buttresses, re-mains standing. “Estimating at nine or ten thousand the numberof the dead in the city of Caraccas, we do not in-clude those unhappy persons, who, dangerouslywounded, perished several months after, for wantof food and proper care. The night of Holy Thurs-day presented the most distressing scene of desolationand sorrow. That thick cloud of dust, which, risingabove the ruins, darkened the sky like a fog, hadsettled on the ground. No shock was felt, and neverwas a night more calm, or more serene. The moon,nearly full, illumined the rounded domes of theSilla, and the aspect of the sky formed a perfectcontrast to that of the earth, covered with the dead,and heaped with ruins. Mothers were seen bearingin their arms their children, whom they hoped torecal to life. Desolate families wandered throughthe city seeking a brother, a husband, a friend, ofwhose fate they were ignorant, and whom they be-lieved to be lost in the crowd. The people pressedalong the streets, which could no more be recognizedbut by long lines of ruins. “All the calamities experienced in the greatcatastrophes of Lisbon, Messina, Lima, and Rio-bamba were renewed on the fatal day of the 26thof March, 1812. The wounded, buried under theruins, implored by their cries the help of the passersby, and nearly two thousand were dug out. Neverwas pity displayed in a more affecting manner; neverhad it been seen more ingeniously active, than in theefforts employed to save the miserable victims, whosegroans reached the ear. Implements for diggingand clearing away the ruins were entirely wanting;and the people were obliged to use their bare hands,to disinter the living. The wounded, as well as the sickwho had escaped from the hospitals, were laid on thebanks of the small river Guayra. They found noshelter but the foliage of trees. Beds, linen to dressthe wounds, instruments of surgery, medicines, and |Spaltenumbruch|objects of the most urgent necessity, were buriedunder the ruins. Every thing, even food, was want-ing during the first days. Water became alikescarce in the interior of the city. The commotionhad rent the pipes of the fountains; the falling inof the earth had choaked up the springs that suppliedthem; and it became necessary, in order to havewater, to go down to the river Guayra, which wasconsiderably swelled; and then vessels to convey thewater were wanting. “There remained a duty to be fulfilled toward thedead, enjoined at once by piety, and the dread ofinfection. It being impossible to inter so manythousand corpses, half-buried under the ruins, com-missaries were appointed to burn the bodies; andfor this purpose funeral piles were erected betweenthe heaps of ruins. This ceremony lasted severaldays. Amid so many public calamities, the peopledevoted themselves to those religious duties, whichthey thought were the most fitted to appease thewrath of Heaven. Some, assembling in processions,sang funeral hymns; others, in a state of distraction,confessed themselves aloud in the streets. In thistown was now repeated what had been remarkedin the province of Quito, after the tremendous earth-quake of 1797; a number of marriages were con-tracted between persons, who had neglected formany years to sanction their union by the sacredotalbenediction. Children found parents, by whom theyhad never till then been acknowledged; restitutionswere promised by persons, who had never been ac-cused of fraud; and families, who had long beenenemies, were drawn together by the tie of commoncalamity.”