Page:Account of several remarkable earthquakes, which happened in various quarters of the world.pdf/5

 continued this agitation for some time. Of these openings great numbers might be seen at once. In some of them, the people were swallowed up at once; in others the earth caught them by the middle, and crushed them to death; while others, more fortunate were swallowed up in one chasm, and thrown out alive by another. Other chasms were large enough to swallow up the whole streets; and others still more formidable, spouted up immense quantities of water, drowning such as the earthquake had spared. The whole was attended with stenches and offensive smells, the noise of falling mountains at a distance &c.; and the sky, in minute's time, was turned dull and reddish, like  glowing oven. Yet, as great a sufferer as Port-Royal was, more houses were left standing therein on the whole island besides. Scarce a planting-house, or sugar-house, was left standing in all Jamaica. A great part of them were swallowed up, houses,, trees and all, in one gap: in lieu of which appeared great pools of water; which,  dried up left nothing but sand, without any  that ever tree or plant had grown thereon. The shock was so violent, that it threw people down their knees or their faces as they were running  for shelter. Several houses were shuffled yards out of their places, and yet continued. One Hopkins had his plantation removed half a mile from the place where it stood, without any considerable alteration. All the wells in, as well as those of Port-Royal, from one to six or seven deep, threw their water out  the top with great violence. Above 12 miles the sea, the earth gaped and spouted out, with  prodigious force, vast quantities of water into the : yet the greatest violences were among the  and rocks; and it is a general opinion,  the nearer the mountains, the greater the ; and the cause thereof lay among them. of the rivers were stopped up for 24 hours by