Note 35 — Chapter XIX

Oviedo observes respecting the earthquakes of the country, that “they are frequent at the time of storms,—though to tell the truth, rain rarely falls. These shocks,” he adds, “are not light, but are real earthquakes, very severe and very long. During my stay in this city, I have seen some violent ones, so much so as to compel us to abandon the houses, through fear of being crushed to death beneath them, and to take refuge in the streets and squares. I have counted upwards of sixty shocks within twenty-four hours, and that for several days. During the shocks the lightning struck and inflamed houses. All this I saw at Leon, but certainly these earthquakes cannot be compared with those of the city of Pozzuoli, which I saw completely overthrown by an earthquake, of the same kind with those at Leon. If this last mentioned city had been built of stone, like those of Spain, it would soon have been destroyed, with great loss of lives.”