1770 Port-au-Prince earthquake
| Local date | 3 June 1770 |
|---|---|
| Local time | 19:15 |
| Magnitude | 7.5Mw[1] |
| Depth | 10 km (6 mi) |
| Epicenter | 18°25′N 72°47′W / 18.42°N 72.79°W[2] |
| Areas affected | Saint-Domingue, Captaincy General of Santo Domingo, Jamaica |
| Max. intensity | MMI X (Extreme)[3] |
| Tsunami | Yes |
| Casualties | 250+ |
The 1770 Port-au-Prince earthquake took place at 7:15 pm local time on June 3, on the
Damage
The earthquake was strong enough to destroy Port-au-Prince, and leveled all the buildings between
It is estimated that 200 people died in Port-au-Prince in collapsed buildings,[4] including 79 of the 80 people in Port-au-Prince's hospital.[5] The death toll would have been higher, but the earthquake was preceded by a rumbling noise that gave people time to flee their houses before the main tremor, which consisted of two shocks lasting a total of four minutes.[4] Fifty people died in Léogâne.[3]
Tsunami
The earthquake generated a tsunami that came ashore along the Gulf of Gonâve, and rolled as much as 7.2 kilometres (4.5 mi) inland into the Cul-de-Sac depression, though this might have been confounded with the effects of the liquefaction.[3]
Aftermath
The aftermath of the earthquake saw much more death as thousands of slaves escaped in the chaos, the local economy collapsed and 15,000 slaves died in the subsequent famine. An additional 15,000 people died from what is thought to have been gastrointestinal anthrax from eating tainted meat bought from Spanish traders.[6]
See also
- List of earthquakes in Haiti
- List of historical earthquakes
- List of historical tsunamis
References
- .
- ^ Panagiotopoulos, D. G. I. (1995). "Long-term earthquake prediction in Central America and Caribbean Sea based on the time- and magnitude-predictable model". Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America. 85 (4). Seismological Society of America: 1190–1201.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-4020-1717-9.
- ^ S2CID 130544015. Archived from the originalon 2015-09-23. Retrieved 2015-07-13.
- ^ a b Boswell, James (1770). "France". The Scots Magazine. 32 (August): 447–448.
- ISBN 978-1-55652-632-9.
Further reading
- Hough, Susan E.; Martin, Stacey S.; Symithe, Steve J.; Briggs, Richard (2022). "Rupture Scenarios for the 3 June 1770 Haiti Earthquake". Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America. ISSN 0037-1106.