There Was A Strange Mixture Of The Terrible And The
Ludicrous In Our Situation.
We might at any moment have a much
stronger shock, which would bring down the house over us, or
-
What I feared more - cause a landslip, and send us down into the
deep ravine on the very edge of which the village is built; yet I
could not help laughing each time we ran out at a slight shock,
and then in a few moments ran in again. The sublime and the
ridiculous were here literally but a step apart. On the one hand,
the most terrible and destructive of natural phenomena was in
action around us - the rocks, the mountains, the solid earth were
trembling and convulsed, and we were utterly impotent to guard
against the danger that might at any moment overwhelm us. On the
other hand was the spectacle of a number of men, women, and
children running in and out of their houses, on what each time
proved a very unnecessary alarm, as each shock ceased just as it
became strong enough to frighten us. It seemed really very much
like "playing at earthquakes," and made many of the people join
me in a hearty laugh, even while reminding each other that it
really might be no laughing matter.
At length the evening got very cold, and I became very sleepy,
and determined to turn in; leaving orders to my boys, who slept
nearer the door, to wake me in case the house was in danger of
falling. But I miscalculated my apathy, for I could not sleep
much. The shocks continued at intervals of half an hour or an
hour all night, just strong enough to wake me thoroughly each
time and keep me on the alert, ready to jump up in case of danger.
I was therefore very glad when morning came. Most of the
inhabitants had not been to bed at all, and some had stayed out
of doors all night. For the next two days and nights shocks still
continued at short intervals, and several times a day for a week,
showing that there was some very extensive disturbance beneath
our portion of the earth's crust. How vast the forces at work
really are can only be properly appreciated when, after feeling
their effects, we look abroad over the wide expanse of hill and
valley, plain and mountain, and thus realize in a slight degree
the immense mass of matter heaved and shaken. The sensation
produced by an earthquake is never to be forgotten. We feel
ourselves in the grasp of a power to which the wildest fury of
the winds and waves are as nothing; yet the effect is more a
thrill of awe than the terror which the more boisterous war of
the elements produces. There is a mystery and an uncertainty as
to the amount of danger we incur, which gives greater play to the
imagination, and to the influences of hope and fear. These
remarks apply only to a moderate earthquake.
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