1 Caroline Williams Hispanic, Portuguese, and Latin American Studies School of Modern Languages

2 Oxford Atlas of World History (OUP, 2002)http://a-s.clayton.edu/rosenburg/spborderlands.htm

3 Perspectiva del Volcán de Tunguragua... y de su erupción el día 23 de abril de 1773. AGI MP-Panama, 180

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5 ‘Relación de los estragos que hubo el día 20 de junio de 1698 en cuatro lugares de la Provincia de Quito que son Riobamba, Tacunga, Ambato, y Patate; y en sus anejos’ ‘Account of the devastation that occurred on the day of 20 June 1698 in four regions of the Province of Quito, which are Ríobamba, Tacunga, Ambato, and Patate...’

6 En la Provincia de Quito, y Jurisdicción dela Villa de Ambato se halla situado el Monte Tunguragua. Su figura es de Pirámide cónica, cuyo vértice se eleva 5.664 varas sobre la libela del Mar. La nieve que de ordinario lo cubre tiene de altura vertical 445 varas, después dela cual descendiendo en peña viva descubierta, pajonal, Palmas, y otros arboles termina en un profundo, y harchiente valle cultivado de cañaverales, y otros frutos de tierra caliente. Su corpulencia, y perfecta figura lo hacen recomendable; pues sin embargo de hallarse a la vista, y no mucha distancia del mas alto Monte que hasta ahora se haya medido, que es Chimborazo, con 7.499 varas de elevación de su cumbre sombre la libela del Mar, prevalece a la vista, la de Tunguragua, por elevarse de indicado profundo valle, a la de Chimborazo, que se halla exigido en un terreno muy alto. En la falda de Tunguragua brota una fuente de Aguas termales calientes de tanta virtud medicinal que conducidas a larga distancia causan maravillosos efectos. Mezclada con un Manantial de agua fría, que sale con poca mediación, se proporciona el deseado temple para bañarse los enfermos; lo que ha dado su denominación al pueblo de Baños que está contiguo. Sus inflamadas entrañas causaron en aquel país formidables estragos por una boca abierta cerca del vértice en los años de 1640, y 45, y se mantuvo el Volcán sin particular alteración, por espacio de 128 años, aunque no dejaba de producir humo en algunas temporadas. ‘ Relación dela Erupción de Volcán de Tunguragua acaecida el dia 23 de abril de 1773’ ‘Account of the eruption of the Tunguragua Volcano which occurred on 23 April 1773’

7 El Presidente de Quito da parte... del estado en que han quedado la mayor parte de los lugares del distrito de su mando de resultas de un fuerte terremoto experimentado... la mañana del... 4 de febrero (1797) The President of Quito reports... on the condition of the... district under his command following the strong earthquake experienced... on the morning of 4 February (1797)

8 ‘ Relación Breve de lo acaecido en la ciudad de Guatemala, desde el día veinte y siete de agosto del año de 1717, hasta hoy que se cuentan 16 de octubre del mismo año’ ‘Brief account of the events that occurred in the city of Guatemala from 27 August of the year 1717, until today... 16 October of the same year’ [The account actually covers two months from 27 August to 28 October]

9 1698 earthquake/eruption: ‘at between 1 and 2 in the morning of 20 June the earth began to shudder and at exactly the same time as the tremors began Mount Chimborazo and another nearby [volcano] both erupted expelling vast torrents of water mixed with mud which flooded the fields and [led] the Ambato and other rivers to overflow [break their banks?]’ 1773 Tungurahua eruption: ‘Between 4 and 5 on the afternoon of 23 April, the volcano erupted, having given no prior signs to indicate the … devastation it would wreak … tremendous roaring, vomiting fire, sparks, sand, mud, ash, water, and dense smoke that covered the atmosphere … new openings appeared in the mountain during this eruption through which the volcano spewed the same substances as through the main one’

10 1797 earthquake: ‘All places in the vicinity of Tunguragua have suffered the most. The cracks opened [by the earthquake] are so enormous that they have swallowed up entire farms. Pieces of the mountain have fallen off, halting the course of the River Patate, the waters of which have overflowed and flooded everything they have found in their path’.

11 1698: the volcano expelled ‘such vast quantities of water... [that] the river overflowed and destroyed all the plantations, mills, farms... houses, and livestock along its banks... the tremors were felt at exactly the same time in every place between Chimbo and the village of San Miguel, and in the district of Ambato no stone remained on top of another... many people of both sexes and all classes died, as most were asleep [when the earthquake struck]... In the town of Patate four leagues distant from Ambato... more than 200 people were killed... because they did not run fast enough they drowned... Of this town nothing is left... In... Latacunga... most residents [asleep at the time] were buried under their beds and houses... others choked on the dust [as they tried to escape]’.

12 1698: ‘a letter from Popayán dated 10 September reports that... two nights before a great crashing sound was heard which awoke all the inhabitants... it is feared that one of the volcanoes of Pasto has erupted which have for some time now been roaring and emitting flames and smoke’ 1773 Tungurahua eruption: ‘its fiery entrails caused formidable damage [due to an eruption] from a mouth close to its peak in the years 1640 and 1645... The volcano remained quiet for 128 years although it did emit smoke from time to time’. 1797 earthquake: ‘the last time Latacunga was destroyed, which was in the year 1757’. 1717 Guatemala: ‘in 176 years [the city] has been destroyed nine times’.

13 1698: ‘We are all [so] startled by the daily tremors that people are living in the fields [also] fleeing the decaying dead bodies, there having not been opportunity in the fear and confusion to bury them, and most of the survivors suffering injury to their legs, arms, and heads’. 1797: Official intervention to prevent ‘price rises’ (food supplies also ‘buried under the ruins’) 1797: Health hazards, from the ‘fetid stench emanating from the ruins in the [various] towns [due to] the dead bodies of men and animals’ buried underneath them.

14 1797: ‘I am vigilantly watching the behaviour of the Indian inhabitants of the towns in ruins, whom local officials inform me have become insolent, arguing that they should no longer pay tributes [to the Crown]’.

15 How did people experience a major eruption or earthquake, and how did they describe those experiences? How did they respond, both in the immediate aftermath and in the medium and longer term? How did they explain these events? How did they assess future risk? The wrath of God? Nature?

16 27-29 August: ‘the voracious and furious flames’; ‘the horrible spectacle produced by the volcano’; ‘the enemy volcano’; the ‘sky covered by dense and dark clouds’; an ‘obelisk of smoke’: ‘in the midst of fear and confusion [elsewhere, terror], it was impossible not to admire the extraordinary nature of those effects’ 30 August: ‘one of the most peculiar and unusual effects began today... a subterranean sound accompanied by so violent a shaking of the earth’, effects analogous to the feeling created ‘in the cabin of a ship when the cannon is fired’; echoes and tremors ‘are commonly called tumbos’; ‘on one day more than 50 were counted, some lasting as long as [it takes to recite] a Hail Mary’

17 Began with a ‘violent’ tremor at 7 pm, followed by another, equally ‘horrendous’, and then the ‘massive earthquake’ – made all the more ‘singular’ by its vertical movement, such that ‘no person remained upright, and even those kneeling were thrown... to the ground and... viciously shaken’ To this was added the ‘horror’ of the ‘dust cloud’ coming from the buildings, the ‘confusion of... voices on seeing the sky covered by clouds so dense and black that it appeared [as though] the firmament had been plunged into mourning’.

18 Prayers and novenas Religious processions Mass absolutions Rumours of premonitions and divine revelations: the day of judgement draws near –expected on Day of St. Francis (4 October) ‘as though risen from the dead’ when the day passed without incident City-wide debates: relocate or rebuild? Comparisons: Catania/Etna; Canaries; Azores Risk assessment: for some, relocation would bring ‘famine, fatigue, economic decline, disease’; for others, certainty of future disaster (9 in past 176 years; first city destroyed by Agua volcano in 1541; 4 nearby volcanoes which ‘cause’ earthquakes) outweighed these considerations – ‘prudence’; should not expect ‘miracles’ Cost-benefit analysis: re-building less costly for some; starting anew in safe location less costly in long term

19 No pen can convey, no tongue can express just how horrendous it was to observe the fire that emanated from the volcano, or the terror and panic it caused among the city’s inhabitants. No amount of hyperbole can truthfully describe the terrible day of the earthquakes, the violence with which the earth shook, the dreadful noise of falling buildings, the confusion, the shock to the senses No words, however eloquent, can fully explain the damage done, the labours undertaken, the fatigue experienced, the shouting and screaming of men, women, and children