1773 Guatemala earthquake
   HOME

TheInfoList



Click Here for Items Related To - 1773 Guatemala earthquake
OR:
1773 Guatemala earthquake on:   [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Amazon]

The 1773 Guatemala earthquake struck Guatemala on July 29 at 15:45 local time. It had an estimated epicentral magnitude of 7.5 Mi. It was part of a sequence that started in May that year. There were two strong
foreshock A foreshock is an earthquake that occurs before a larger seismic event (the mainshock) and is related to it in both time and space. The designation of an earthquake as ''foreshock'', ''mainshock'' or aftershock is only possible after the full se ...
s on June 11 and the mainshock was followed by numerous aftershocks which lasted until December 1773. The series of all these earthquakes is also referred to as the Santa Marta earthquake(s) as it had started on the feast day of Saint
Martha Martha (Hebrew: מָרְתָא‎) is a biblical figure described in the Gospels of Luke and John. Together with her siblings Lazarus and Mary of Bethany, she is described as living in the village of Bethany near Jerusalem. She was witness ...
. With an intensity of approximately VII (''Very strong'') to VIII (''Severe'') on the Mercalli intensity scale, the Santa Marta earthquakes destroyed much of Santiago de los Caballeros de Guatemala (modern Antigua Guatemala), which was at that time the colonial capital of Central America. About 500–600 people died immediately and at least another 600 died from starvation and disease as a result of the earthquake. The event had significant impact on the number of religious personnel in the area, especially the Mercedarian Order, with the count reduced almost by half and a similar reduction in the amount of income received.


Relocation of the capital

Spanish authorities had previously considered moving the capital to a different location after the devastation of the
1717 Guatemala earthquake The 1717 Guatemala earthquake struck colonial Guatemala on September 29 with an estimated moment magnitude of 7.4, and a Mercalli intensity of approximately IX (''Violent''). The earthquake essentially destroyed much of the architecture of Antigu ...
and decided after the 1773 event not to rebuild the city again. In 1776 the capital was moved to the new city of Guatemala of Asuncion, known today as
Guatemala City Guatemala City ( es, Ciudad de Guatemala), known locally as Guatemala or Guate, is the capital and largest city of Guatemala, and the most populous urban area in Central America. The city is located in the south-central part of the country, ne ...
.


See also

*
List of earthquakes in Guatemala Earthquakes are relatively frequent occurrences in Guatemala. The country lies in a major fault zone known as the Motagua and Chixoy-Polochic fault complex, which cuts across Guatemala and forms the tectonic boundary between the Caribbean Plat ...
*
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:1773 Guatemala Earthquake Earthquakes in Guatemala Guatemala Earthquake, 1773 Guatemala Earthquake, 1773 Earthquake, 1773 Guatemala earthquake Earthquake, 1773