It is a bitter and humiliating thing to see works, which have cost man so much time and labour, overthrown in one minute; yet compassion for the inhabitants was almost instantly banished, by the surprise in seeing a state of things produced in a moment of time, which one was accustomed to attribute to a succession of ages.

In my opinion, we have scarcely beheld, since leaving England, any sight so deeply interesting.
In almost every severe earthquake, the neighbouring waters of the sea are said to have been greatly agitated.

The disturbance seems generally, as in the case of Concepcion, to have been of two kinds: first, at the instant of the shock, the water swells high up on the beach with a gentle motion, and then as quietly retreats; secondly, some time afterwards, the whole body of the sea retires from the coast, and then returns in waves of overwhelming force.

The first movement seems to be an immediate consequence of the earthquake affecting differently a fluid and a solid, so that their respective levels are slightly deranged: but the second case is a far more important phenomenon.

During most earthquakes, and especially during those on the west coast of America, it is certain that the first great movement of the waters has been a retirement.