“Extract of a letter from a merchant in Laguria”
Date
5-25-1812
Newspaper
Louisiana Gazette
Page and Column
Page 2, Column 4
Newspaper Location
New Orleans, Louisiana
Serial Number
938
Abstract
Felt report for the Laguria earthquake of March 26, 1812. Caribbean earthquake.
Transcript
Extract of a letter from a merchant in Laguira to his correspondent in N.Y. dated April 1. "You will perceive by that that I am still alive, altho' the danger and [unreadable] we have been in since my last are beyond conception. On the 26th ult. at 4 p.m. we had an earthquake here, which has completely ruined this part of the province. Not a house is standing that a person would venture to remain in for a single hour, and nine-tenths of the [unreadable] are level with the ground. From [unreadable] to 3000 persons it is is calculated have lost their lives. Caraccas has shared the same fate.-I was there at the time [unreadable] dreadful catastrophe happened, and escaped by running from the house into a large court yard, in which nothing [unreadable] fall upon me, and where I remained [unreadable til all was over. We have had [unreadable] more shocks every day since. "There is not a house in Laguira,[unreadable] more than fifty in the whole city of Caraccas; but will have to be pulled down [unreadable] the places completely abandoned, [unreadable] latter I think will be the case, and [unreadable] and towns built in places adjacent [unreadable] wood. Ten thousand lives are said to be lost in Caraccas; but it is impossible [unreadable] tell to a certainty; they have been digging out the bodies ever since and burying them. It is shocking to see at a close of the day heads, arms, and legs that have been left unburnt as the [unreadable] dies away, and the stench is [unreadable]. Every person is ordered out of [unreadable] except labourers, to avoid a pestilence. Three fourths of the wealth of [unreadable]; and as no day has passed without a shock, we are waiting with fear and trembling, to know when it will be [unreadable] over, or what the effect of next shock will be. "All foreigners, and every having the means, are leaving the place [unreadable] the islands and elsewhere. There [unreadable] report that Porto Cavello is safe, [unreadable] numbers will flock to it; but along [unreadable] will be required to make it a place of [unreadable] business. I should have [unreadable] with others, had I not thought it [unreadable] to stay to attend to your interests [unreadable] Your loss it is impossible for me [unreadable] "Lumber and provisions will [unreadable]; the former will be in great [unreadable] some time, to build with, as [unreadable] now live in an open [unreadable] this on my lap."
Recommended Citation
"“Extract of a letter from a merchant in Laguria”" (1812). New Madrid Compendium Far-Field Database. 912.
https://digitalcommons.memphis.edu/cas-ceri-new-madrid-compendium/912
