1692 Salta earthquake
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The 1692 Salta earthquake took place in the Province of Salta, in the Republic of
Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
on 13 September at . It registered 7.0 on the
Richter magnitude scale The Richter scale —also called the Richter magnitude scale, Richter's magnitude scale, and the Gutenberg–Richter scale—is a measure of the strength of earthquakes, developed by Charles Francis Richter and presented in his landmark 1935 ...
and was located at a depth of . Aftershocks continued to be felt until 15 September.


Damage and casualties

The destructive force of the 1692 Salta earthquake was measured at IX on the Mercalli intensity scale. It completely destroyed the small village of Talavera del Esteco, in the province of Salta. It caused 13 deaths and injuries as well as significant damage to the city of
Salta Salta () is the capital and largest city in the Argentine province of the same name. With a population of 618,375 according to the 2010 census, it is also the 7th most-populous city in Argentina. The city serves as the cultural and economic ce ...
.


Aftermath

Salteño tradition has it that the number of victims was not higher because the earthquake occurred during the day and that the villagers were able to take measures to prevent greater damage. It is recounted that, in the middle of the chaos of the earthquake, while the houses were shaking and roofs were falling off, that the image of the Immaculate Conception (then called the Virgen del Milagro), then located in the , fell some three meters to the ground. Villagers, who had run to the church to pray, saw that the image was not only undamaged from the fall, but that it had fallen at the feet of the image of Christ. The villages interpreted that the image was interceding to Christ on behalf of the village. The following day the villagers paraded the image through the streets. The Salteños began venerating the image and praying for it to stop the earthquake. The tremors continued for two more days. On 8 October 1692 the Salta town council labelled the events of 13–15 September as miraculous. Nuestra Señora del Milagro was appointed "advocate" of the city and 13 September declared a national holiday. On 15 October she was recognized as Patroness and Advocate of Salta. The miraculous events of 13–15 September 1692 was the commencement of what has become the yearly Fiesta del milagro (Feast of the miracle) on 15 September each year. The celebrations commence with festivities as early as 6 September and continue until the 15th when the images of Christ and the Virgen del Milagro, are paraded through the streets in a grand procession. The Fiesta del Milagro is the most popular religious festival in Salta and one of the most important in Argentina.


Esteco

CONICET archaeologists and other investigators undertook excavations at the site where the city of Esteco II (officially called Nuestra Señora de Talavera de Madrid) was destroyed by the 1692 earthquake. The excavations were done within a area. They found a wall and one of the four towers of the fort that protected the city, located in Río Piedras, in the departament of Metán.


See also

*
List of earthquakes in Argentina This is a list of earthquakes in Argentina. * Details are approximate for old events. * Magnitude is measured in the Richter magnitude scale. * Intensity is measured in the Mercalli intensity scale. * Depth is given in miles. 1600-1899 20th c ...
*
List of historical earthquakes Historical earthquakes is a list of significant earthquakes known to have occurred prior to the beginning of the 20th century. As the events listed here occurred before routine instrumental recordings, they rely mainly on the analysis of written ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Salta earthquake, 1692 1692 1692 earthquakes 1692 1692 1692 in South America