“Extract of letter”
Date
5-7-1812
Newspaper
Augusta Herald
Page and Column
Page 2, Column 4
Newspaper Location
Augusta, Georgia
Serial Number
770
Abstract
A letter from the schooner Independence on the earthquake at LaGuria. Earthquake in the Caribbean March 1812.
Transcript
Extract of a letter received per schr, Independence, at Baltimore, from Laguira. "A few days prior to our arrival this town was almost destroyed by an earthquake; it commenced about 4 o'clock, P. M. on Thursday, the 26th March; its duration was about 4 minutes, and its effects horribly destructive; since my arrival, there have been a few shocks, but no material damage done.-Such is the alarm of the inhabitants that the town is entirely deserted, and they are now living without the walls, beneath little tents and huts, which are erected merely to shelter them from the rain and heat of the sun. "It is not within the compass of my ability to describe to you the misery of these people; fear and despair, grief and ruin, have completely overwhelmed them. Parents have escaped with the loss of their children, children with the loss of their parents, and very few without the loss of their property. Already five hundred persons have been found, and the probability is that a greater number still remain buried beneath the ruins. The destruction at Carracas is much greater;--2 500 bodies have been thrown upon the funeral pile, and burned already, and it is supposed that from up to 10 0000 souls are lost.-Out of 40 Churches in that place two convents only remain standing. Such is the lamentable situation of these two places that it will be a long time before they can be reinstated. No business of any nature is dong. All the Americans here will go to Porto Cavello." Robert K. Lowery, Esq. writes from Laguira under date of 3d instant, and mentions the confusion and dismay as indescribable; following the destruction by earthquake is a terrible scene of robbery. He was preparing to sail immediately with what he could snatch from the hands of plunders to Porto Cavello, which had escaped the shock.
Recommended Citation
"“Extract of letter”" (1812). New Madrid Compendium Far-Field Database. 755.
https://digitalcommons.memphis.edu/cas-ceri-new-madrid-compendium/755
