Earthquakes

Much of Latin America is an active seismic zone, and devastating earthquakes are a common occurrence. Some of these have had profound long-term social and political consequences. For example, in 1773 massive destruction led colonial Guatemalans to move their capital from Antigua to its present site. The 1812 earthquake in Caracas not only severely damaged the city and its environs, but also the nascent independence movement under Simón Bolívar. The 1944 earthquake in San Juan, Argentina, led to the acquaintance of future populist leaders Juan and Evita Perón. In Peru a 1970 earthquake-landslide eliminated the elite of Yungay more thoroughly and quickly than any social revolution could have done. Dissatisfaction with Anastasio Somoza's management of relief and reconstruction following the 1972 Managua quake turned many Nicaraguans against his government and may have enabled the Sandinista revolution of 1979. Finally, the devastating Mexico City earthquake of 1985 exposed the inefficiency and corruption of the government and ultimately contributed to the crisis and decline of the ruling party that had governed Mexico since 1929. More generally, earthquakes—like other natural disasters such as hurricanes—have led to official responses that have caused inhabitants to question their leaders' competence or interest, with political consequences.

Most South American countries—and particularly those located along the Pacific Rim—have been affected by earthquakes. Andean Argentina sustained considerable loss of life in 1861 (Mendoza) and 1944 (San Juan). In present-day Chile, earthquakes and tsunamis with catastrophic impact occurred in 1730 (Concepción), 1822 (Valparaíso), 1835 and 1837 (Concepción), 1868 (Arica and off the northern coast), 1877 (Iquique and Tarapacá), and in 1965 (without a tsunami) in central Chile. More than 1,000 people died in each of the following: 1906 (Santiago and Valparaíso), 1922 (Copiapó), 1939 (28,000 in Chillán), and 1960 (Concepción). Within the boundaries of modern Colombia, there were earthquakes in 1644, 1785, and 1804. The May 1875 earthquakes in Cúcuta took thousands of lives. Severe damage resulted from the Colombian quakes of 1851, 1923, 1935, 1938, 1950, 1955, 1958, 1961, 1966, 1967 (especially), 1979, and 1983. The Ecuadorian cities of Quito, Ambato, and Riobamba are situated in an earthquake-prone area. The quakes of 1575, 1640, 1645, 1698, 1755, 1797, 1859, 1868, 1949, and 1979 are regarded as especially devastating, most notably that of 1868, which also struck Guayaquil and Ibarra, and that of 1797.

Peru was shaken by strong earthquakes in 1746 (Callao and Lima, with tsunami) and in 1868 (Chala, Arequipa, Moquegua, and Tacna). In colonial times, there were other significant quakes in 1604 (Arequipa), 1619 (Trujillo, Piura, Santa), 1658 (Trujillo), 1664 (Ica, Pisco), 1687 (Lima, Arequipa), 1699 (Lima), 1724 (Callao), and 1821 (Camaná, Ocoña, Caravelá). Five severe earthquakes occurred in the 1940–1950 period; three between 1970 and 1974. In Venezuela, there are reports of severe quakes in Cumaná in 1530, Bailadores in 1599, and Caracas in 1641. The 1812 Caracas quake was the deadliest and most destructive of the colonial era. In the national period, heavy damage resulted from quakes in 1929, 1966, 1967 (especially), and 1981.

Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean have also experienced frequent earthquakes; indeed, anthropologist Eric Wolf labeled the inhabitants of Mexico and Guatemala the "sons of the shaking earth." Colonial documents indicate more than a dozen earthquakes in the vicinity of Antigua, Guatemala, before the relocation of the city; those of 1717 and 1765 caused considerable damage. Colonial San Salvador experienced quakes in 1671, 1715, 1719, 1776, and 1798. Among the more significant twentieth-century Central American earthquakes were those in 1902 (Guatemala), 1910 (Costa Rica), 1917 (El Salvador), 1917–1918 (Guatemala), 1931 (Nicaragua), 1951 (Honduras), 1965 (El Salvador), 1972 (Nicaragua), 1973 (Costa Rica), 1976 (Guatemala), 1982 (El Salvador), 1983 (Costa Rica), 1986 (El Salvador), and 1991 (Costa Rica). Mexico City and Jalisco endured earthquakes in 1611; Oaxaca, in 1701. The state of Guerrero had notable quakes in 1845, 1874, 1882, 1887, 1907, 1956, 1964, and 1979; Michoacán, in 1858, 1911, and 1981; southern Mexico, in 1962, 1973, and 1980. As one of the largest metropolitan population concentrations in the world, Mexico City suffered extreme casualties in the earthquake of 1985.

In 1692 Jamaica's capital, Port Royal, sank beneath the ocean during an earthquake; an earthquake damaged Kingston in 1907. Other significant quakes in the Greater Antilles were in 1766, 1775, and 1932 (Cuba); 1918 (Puerto Rico); 1751, 1770, 1842, and 1953 (Haiti); and 1691, 1751, 1842, and 1946 (Dominican Republic).

Social scientists began systematic studies of natural hazards only in the 1950s. Researchers consider such indicators as the impact of earthquakes on physical and mental health, disrupted infrastructures, new social relationships, exacerbation of inequities or inefficiencies, and retarded economic growth. Scholarly interest in earthquakes continues to increase as the field of Latin American history considers more seriously the effect of the environment on human and social relationships.

See alsoEnvironment and Climatexml .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bates, Frederick L., ed. Recovery, Change, and Development: A Longitudinal Study of the 1976 Guatemalan Earthquake; Final Report. Athens: University of Georgia, Department of Sociology, 1982.

Bode, Barbara. No Bells to Toll: Destruction and Creation in the Andes. New York: Scribner, 1990.

Buchenau, Jurgen, and Lyman Johnson, eds. When the Earth Moves: Earthquakes in Latin American History. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, forthcoming.

Feldman, Lawrence. Mountains of Fire, Lands That Shake: Earthquakes and Volcanic Eruptions in the Historic Past of Central America (1505–1899). Culver City, CA: Labyrinthos, 1993.

Ganse, Robert A., and John B. Nelson, eds. Catalog of Significant Earthquakes 1900–1979. Boulder, CO: National Geophysical and Solar-Terrestrial Data Center, 1981.

Oliver-Smith, Anthony. Martyred City: Death and Rebirth in the Andes. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1986.

Silgado Ferro, Enrique. Programa para la Mitigación de los Efectos de los Terremotos en la Región Andina (Proyecto SISRA). Vol. 10: Terremotos destructivos en América del Sur, 1530–1894. Lima: CERESIS, 1985.

Tomblin, John. "Earthquakes, Volcanoes, and Hurricanes: A Review of Natural Hazards and Vulnerability in the West Indies." Ambio 10:6 (1981), 340-345.

Wolf, Eric R. Sons of the Shaking Earth: The People of Mexico and Guatemala, Their Land, History and Culture. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1964.

                                      Jurgen Buchenau