The 1773 Guatemala earthquake struck

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

on July 29 at 15:45 local time. It had an estimated epicentral magnitude of 7.5 M_i. It was part of a sequence that started in May that year. There were two strong

foreshock A foreshock is an earthquake that occurs before a larger seismic event (the mainshock) and is related to it in both time and space. The designation of an earthquake as ''foreshock'', ''mainshock'' or aftershock is only possible after the full sequ ...

s on June 11 and the mainshock was followed by numerous

aftershock In seismology, an aftershock is a smaller earthquake that follows a larger earthquake, in the same area of the main shock, caused as the displaced crust adjusts to the effects of the main shock. Large earthquakes can have hundreds to thousand ...

s which lasted until December 1773. The series of all these earthquakes is also referred to as the Santa Marta earthquake(s) as it had started on the

feast day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context d ...

of Saint

Martha Martha (Hebrew: מָרְתָא‎) is a biblical figure described in the Gospels of Luke and John. Together with her siblings Lazarus and Mary of Bethany, she is described as living in the village of Bethany near Jerusalem. She was witness to ...

. With an intensity of approximately VII (''Very strong'') to VIII (''Severe'') on the

Mercalli intensity scale The Modified Mercalli intensity scale (MM, MMI, or MCS), developed from Giuseppe Mercalli's Mercalli intensity scale of 1902, is a seismic intensity scale used for measuring the intensity of shaking produced by an earthquake. It measures the eff ...

, the Santa Marta earthquakes destroyed much of

Santiago de los Caballeros de Guatemala Santiago de los Caballeros de Guatemala ("St. James of the Knights of Guatemala") was the name given to the capital city of the Spanish colonial Captaincy General of Guatemala in Central America. History ;Quauhtemallan — Guatemala :The name was ...

(modern

Antigua Guatemala Antigua Guatemala (), commonly known as Antigua or La Antigua, is a city in the central highlands of Guatemala. The city was the capital of the Captaincy General of Guatemala from 1543 through 1773, with much of its Baroque-influenced architec ...

), which was at that time the colonial capital of Central America. About 500–600 people died immediately and at least another 600 died from starvation and disease as a result of the earthquake. The event had significant impact on the number of religious personnel in the area, especially the

Mercedarian Order The Royal, Celestial and Military Order of Our Lady of Mercy and the Redemption of the Captives ( la, Ordo Beatae Mariae de Mercede Redemptionis Captivorum, abbreviated O. de M.), also known as the Mercedarians, is a Catholic mendicant order es ...

, with the count reduced almost by half and a similar reduction in the amount of income received.

Relocation of the capital

Spanish authorities had previously considered moving the capital to a different location after the devastation of the 1717 Guatemala earthquake and decided after the 1773 event not to rebuild the city again. In 1776 the capital was moved to the new city of Guatemala of Asuncion, known today as

Guatemala City Guatemala City ( es, Ciudad de Guatemala), known locally as Guatemala or Guate, is the capital and largest city of Guatemala, and the most populous urban area in Central America. The city is located in the south-central part of the country, nest ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1773 Guatemala Earthquake Earthquakes in Guatemala Guatemala Earthquake, 1773 Guatemala Earthquake, 1773 Earthquake, 1773 Guatemala earthquake Earthquake, 1773

Relocation of the capital

See also

References