1854 San Salvador earthquake

1854 San Salvador earthquake
Local date16 April 1854 (1854-04-16)
Local time10:50 p.m.
Duration10 seconds
Magnitude6.5–6.6 ML
Epicenter13°40′52″N 89°08′06″W / 13.681°N 89.135°W / 13.681; -89.135 near San Jacinto[1][2]
Areas affectedSan Salvador
Total damageSan Salvador destroyed
ForeshocksYes
AftershocksYes
Casualties<100 killed
~50 injured

On 16 April 1854, an earthquake hit San Salvador, the capital city of El Salvador. The earthquake destroyed the city and forced the country's government to temporarily relocate to Cojutepeque while it built a new capital city at Nueva San Salvador (modern-day Santa Tecla). In 1858, the government decided to return to San Salvador rather than relocate to Nueva San Salvador. The earthquake measured 6.5–6.6 on the Richter scale.

Earthquakes

On 13 April 1854, residents of San Salvador felt a small earthquake and reported that it sounded like heavy artillery rolling on pavement or like distant thunder. The earthquake did not impact that day's Holy Thursday celebrations.[3] At 9:30 p.m. on 16 April (Easter), a stronger earthquake hit San Salvador and forced many people to flee their homes and set up temporary encampments in public plazas.[4]

The strongest earthquake hit San Salvador at 10:50 p.m. later that night. The 10-second-long earthquake[4] measured 6.5 or 6.6 on the Richter scale and had an epicenter near the neighborhood of San Jacinto.[1][2] Several prominent buildings were destroyed, including the Metropolitan Cathedral of San Salvador and the University of El Salvador.[4] A document issued by Spanish king Charles I in 1543 that granted San Salvador its status as a city was also destroyed in the Municipal Archive of San Salvador.[5] The destruction of buildings produced a cloud of dust across the city. According to an account written by the Salvadoran government on 2 May, the earthquake destroyed virtually all homes in the city. The earthquake induced volcanic activity from the San Salvador volcano.[4] Several aftershocks occurred through the following weeks.[6]

Casualties

The earthquake trapped at least a quarter of San Salvador's population under rubble, including over 100 students at the University of El Salvador. Victims crowded the city's hospitals and barracks. No more than 100 people were killed by the earthquake and around 50 more were injured. Among those injured included Tomás Miguel Pineda y Saldaña, the bishop of San Salvador; Francisco Dueñas, a former president of El Salvador; and a daughter of General José María San Martín, the incumbent president. The government expected that casualties would be higher,[6] but residents leaving their homes for encampments in public plazas saved many lives.[7]

Aftermath

The earthquake destroyed San Salvador.[8] The damage was so severe that San Martín ordered the government to temporarily relocated to Soyapango[2] and later Cojutepeque.[9] Similarly, the Supreme Court of Justice and University of El Salvador temporarily relocated to San Vicente.[10]

On 16 June, several members of the Salvadoran government proposed building the city of Nueva San Salvador (modern-day Santa Tecla) to replace San Salvador as the country's capital. The proposal was approved and Nueva San Salvador was founded on 8 August.[10] The new city was established 8 miles (13 km) to the southwest of San Salvador at 800 feet (240 m) higher in elevation.[11] President Rafael Campo led efforts to rebuild San Salvador from 1856 to 1858.[12] In 1858, the decision to relocate the capital from Cojutepeque was a political struggle between opposing factions: Dueñas wanted to move the capital to Nueva San Salvador as planned, while San Martín and Eugenio Aguilar wanted to return the capital to San Salvador. Acting President Gerardo Barrios sided with San Martín and Aguilar and returned the country's capital to San Salvador.[13] San Salvador officially resumed its status as El Salvador's capital on 28 June 1858.[2]

According to author Percy Falcke Martin, San Salvador "[bore] not a single trace of the disaster" by 1911.[14] San Salvador did not face another major earthquake that caused heavy damage until 1873.[11] In 2024, La Prensa Gráfica ranked the 1854 San Salvador earthquake as the most devastating earthquake in Salvadoran history.[15]

See also

References

Citations

  1. ^ a b Alvarenga, Hernández & Hernández Flores.
  2. ^ a b c d El Diario de Hoy 2017.
  3. ^ Martin 1911, p. 252.
  4. ^ a b c d Martin 1911, p. 253.
  5. ^ Lardé y Larín 2000, pp. 250–251.
  6. ^ a b Martin 1911, p. 254.
  7. ^ Ward 1916, pp. 38–39.
  8. ^ Haggerty 1990, p. 50.
  9. ^ Bernal Ramírez & Quijano de Batres 2009, p. 200.
  10. ^ a b Leistenschneider & Leistenschneider 1980, p. 98.
  11. ^ a b Martin 1911, p. 257.
  12. ^ Leistenschneider & Leistenschneider 1980, p. 103.
  13. ^ Ching 1997, p. 207.
  14. ^ Martin 1911, p. 255.
  15. ^ Cortez 2024.

Bibliography

Books

  • Bernal Ramírez, Luis Guillermo & Quijano de Batres, Ana Elia, eds. (2009). Historia 1 El Salvador [History 1 El Salvador] (PDF). Historia El Salvador (in Spanish). El Salvador: Ministry of Education. ISBN 9789992363683. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 February 2023. Retrieved 14 January 2026.
  • Ching, Erik K. (1997). From Clientelism to Militarism: The State, Politics and Authoritarianism in El Salvador, 1840–1940 (PhD thesis). Santa Barbara, California: University of California, Santa Barbara. OCLC 39326756. ProQuest 304330235. Retrieved 14 January 2026.
  • Haggerty, Richard A., ed. (1990). El Salvador: A Country Study (2nd ed.). Washington, D.C., United States: Federal Research Division. ISBN 9780525560371. LCCN 89048948. OCLC 1044677008. Retrieved 14 January 2026.
  • Lardé y Larín, Jorge, ed. (2000). El Salvador: Descubrimiento, Conquista y Colonización [El Salvador: Discovery, Conquest, and Colonization]. Library of Salvadoran History (in Spanish) (2nd ed.). San Salvador, El Salvador: Publication and Printing Directory. ISBN 9992300523. LCCN 2001371748. OCLC 1148915832. Retrieved 15 January 2026.
  • Leistenschneider, María & Leistenschneider, Freddy (1980). Gobernantes de El Salvador: Biografías [Governors of El Salvador: Biographies] (in Spanish). Ministry of the Interior. OCLC 7876291. Retrieved 14 January 2026.
  • Martin, Percy Falcke (1911). Salvador of the Twentieth Century. New York City and London: Longmans, Green & co. LCCN nuc87633949. OCLC 1157195793. Retrieved 14 January 2026.
  • Ward, L.A., ed. (1916). Libro Azul de El Salvador: Histórico y Descriptivo, Comercio e Industrías, Hechos Datos y Recursos [Blue Book of Salvador: Historical and Descriptive, Commercial and Industrial, Facts Figures and Resources] (PDF) (in Spanish). San Salvador, El Salvador: Latin American Publicity Bureau. OCLC 16103876. Retrieved 14 January 2026.

Web sources

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