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ANNALS OF GEOPHYSICS,VOL. 47,N. 2/3,April/June 2004 Key words earthquakes Ð Mexico Ð 19th century Ð Mexico City 1. Introduction 2. Political,social and economic context of the three earthquakes In the late 18th century,the Bourbon regime carried out several reforms in its Colonies, whose main purpose was to undermine the 19th century earthquakes in Mexico: three cases,three comparative studies AmŽrica Molina del Villar Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios Superiores en Antropolog“a Social (CIESAS),Mexico D.F.,Mexico This paper is a comparative study of the three strongest 19th century earthquakes in Mexico and their effects and impact mainly in Mexico City. The research is based on historical sources and previous investigations already Mailing address: Dr. AmŽrica Molina del Villar,Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios Superiores en Antropolog“a So- cial (CIESAS),Juarez 87,Tlalpan CP 14000,MŽxico,D.F., Mexico; e-mail:avillar@juarez.ciesas.edu.mx AmŽrica Molina del Villar power of the Church. The implementation of these changes took many years and had several effects,among which and associated with other factors,were the revolts which at last ended with the declaration of MexicoÕs Independence in 1821. The secularisation process as a whole with the publication of the Mexican Laws of Reform,whose main contents are related to the 19th century earthquakes in Mexico:three cases,three comparative studies Table I. Main data for the 1800,1845 and 1858 earthquakes. 180018451858 Date,hour8 March,8:30 a.m.7 April,3:47 p.m.19 June,9:00 a.m. (Çsome light movements (aftershock on 10 April).(two more light aftershocks a few hours after the on 20 and 23 June). earthquakeÈ). Most damaged areaMexico City andMexico City and theMexico City and the States of Guanajuato,the States of Aguascalientes,the States of Colima, Oaxaca,Puebla,Guerrero,Guanajuato,Guanajuato,Guerrero, and Veracruz.Hidalgo,Jalisco,Hidalgo,Jalisco, Mexico,Michoac‡n,MŽxico,Michoac‡n, Morelos,Oaxaca,Puebla,Oaxaca,Puebla,QuerŽtaro, QuerŽtaro,San Luis Potos’,San Luis Potos’, Veracruz and Zacatecas.Tlaxcala and Veracruz. ) According to Bravo Fig. 1a-c. Areas and level of damage reported:a) 8 March 1800; b) 7 April 1845; c) 19 June 1858. AmŽrica Molina del Villar New SpainMexico City Primary sourcesBibliographical:Bustamante (1852),L—pez Ð Archives:AHDF (1800),AGNM (1800) (mayors and architects reports). Christian calendar,this one is known as the ÇSan Juan de DiosÈ earthquake because 8 March is the commemoration of this saint. Earth movements were reported in several localities at the South- ern and Central parts of New Spain viceroyalty, mainly in those located at the Pacific and Gulf Coast,like Oaxaca city and the port of Veracruz. They were also felt in the valleys of Mexico and Puebla,as well as in Guanajuato,located 400 Table II. Sources for the 1800 earthquake. 19th century earthquakes in Mexico:three cases,three comparative studies mentioned it was slightly felt there (Busta- mante,1852). Figure 1a shows three areas with different lev- els and/or perceptions related to damage:1) strong- ly damaged; 2) strongly felt,but no considerable material damage,and 3) felt,without reporting any damage. As can be appreciated,the most affected areas were located in Mexico City and in regions in Oaxaca. According to an earthquake chronology writ- ten almost one century later (Mart’nez,1890),in those areas the earthquake caused some damage. 7 April 1845 earthquake It is amazing that this earthquake,consid- ered by Mexican seismologists as the out the 19th century even similar or perhaps stronger than that of 19 September 1985,has not deserved more investigation up to now. According to recent estimates (Bravo AmŽrica Molina del Villar CountryMexico City Primary sourcesÐ Archives: APP (1858),AHCMR (1858,1859),AHMM (1858) (ecclesi- Table IV. Sources for the 1858 earthquake. 19th century earthquakes in Mexico:three cases,three comparative studies ing the Cathedral,the National Palace (federal government) and the Town Hall was at the in- tersection of these four districts. Many rich people lived there,and their houses were next to commercial and religious buildings,includ- ing convents,churches and religious schools. Most damaged buildings were located precisely in these four districts. A general balance of the areas and buildings affected by this quake shows,as can be seen in fig. 2,that the most damaged area was the city centre,mainly north, south and south-westwards of the Cathedral, corresponding to districts II,III and IV. This Fig. 2. Effects of the 8 March 1800 earthquake in Mexico City. AmŽrica Molina del Villar although it is one of the best documented events in Mexican seismological history (table IV). Here is a first approach to a future,deeper case study,such as those for the 1800 and 1858 events,already published (M‡rquez,2001 and Molina,2001). most important buildings were still located in Mexico CityÕs first four districts. The 1845 event was popularly known as Çthe earthquake of San- ta TeresaÈ,as it collapsed the dome of the church of Santa Teresa la Antigua located in district IV. gious buildings as well as 127 damaged houses, first four districts. These are amazing numbers compared to the 27 damaged buildings reported in 1800 in the same area,even considering the estimated magnitude is higher,but there were al- so more people and more buildings there than in 1800,and hence greater exposure. Fig. 3. Effects of the 7 April 1845 earthquake in Mexico City. 19th century earthquakes in Mexico:three cases,three comparative studies slight cracks to collapsed inner and outer walls, towers and domes. In addition the earthquake affected main aqueducts that brought water into the city,bridges and city gates. Figure 3 shows the first mapping of the ef- fects of this earthquake in Mexico City. It is still each building with its specific type of damage. Nevertheless this approach allows one to realise that the affected area is very similar to that of the 1800 earthquake,with a considerably high- er number of buildings affected mainly in dis- tricts I,II,III,IV,and VIII. Seventeen dead and injured were reported in Mexico City,a rather low figure considering the quakeÕs intensity as well as its estimated magni- tude. As for the economic damage,reports were prepared by the relevant mayors describing in Fig. 4. Effects of the 19 June 1858 earthquake in Mexico City. AmŽrica Molina del Villar damage to 31 public buildings,106 cracked buildings and 63 in ruins in the city. The real fig- ures must have been higher,for some districts of- fer only general comments,such as Çin the located in district VI,many buildings were dam- El Siglo Diez y Nueve ,1858). As compared to the north,east and western parts of the city,the most affected areas were the southwest and southeast. Damage was worse in district VIII,southward of the most important park in town,the Alameda Central very popular park even nowadays. This district registered high population growth in the 19th Century,and was mainly composed of urban and suburban housing quarters lacking public utilities. The population of VIII district was not 19th century earthquakes in Mexico:three cases,three comparative studies P‡tzcuaro in 1858 (21 deaths). The town of event that has remained less studied,the 7 April 1845,was the highest in Mexico in the first half of the 19th century,and maybe the highest be- fore the 1985 event. It deserves a deeper inves- AmŽrica Molina del Villar Olla Podrida Cosson y Ca.,Paris). îPEZDE ,P.(1961): Cartilla Vieja de la No- (Universidad Nacional Aut—noma de MŽxico,Mexico). ,J.R. (1948): Diario de Sucesos Notables(1832- 1864),arreglados anotados por el P. Mariano Cuevas S.J. (Editorial Patria,Mexico),2 vols. çRQUEZ ,I. (2001):El temblor del 8 de marzo de 1800,in ,edited by V. COSTA (Universidad Nacional Aut—noma de MŽxico,Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios Superi- ores en Antropolog’a Social,Fondo de Cultura Econ—mica,Mexico),vol. 2,pp. 181-219. ARTêNEZ RACIDA ,M. (1890):Cat‡logo de terremotos desde 1507 hasta 1885,in Cuadro Sin—ptico Geogr‡fi- ,ms. ,B. VON (Universidad Nacional Aut—noma de MŽxico,Mexico). OLINA ,A.(2001):El sismo del 19 de junio de 1858,in ,edited by V. G (Universidad Nacional Aut—noma de MŽxico,Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios Superiores en Antropolog’a So- cial,Fondo de Cultura Econ—mica,Mexico),vol. 2, C.,F.(1976): Panorama Hist—rico de Sayula, Capital de la Antigua Provincia de çvalos ,(Departa- mento de Bellas Artes del Gobierno de Jalisco, Guadalajara,Mexico). ROZCOY ,J. (1887):EfemŽrides se’smicas mexi- Memoria de la Sociedad Cient’fica ,303-541. ,R. (1904): EfemŽrides Nacionales o Narraci—n Anecd—ticas de los Asuntos M‡s Culminantes de la (Tipograf’a y encuadernaci—n ÇLa Idea del SigloÈ,Mexico). ,S.and V. R (1873):Informe sobre los tem- blores y volcanes del Agua Fr’a y Jaripeo con una lista de rocas y minerales,in