1900 San Narciso earthquake

Earthquake in Venezuela

1900 Venezuelan earthquake

Caracas

UTC time| 1900-10-29 09:11:00
ISC event| 16957719
USGS-ANSS| ComCat
Local date| October 29, 1900 (1900-10-29)
Local time| 04:30–04:45 VET
Magnitude| 7.6–7.7 Mw[1]
7.7–8.4 Ms
Depth| 15 km (9.3 mi)
Epicenter| 11°00′N 66°00′W﻿ / ﻿11.0°N 66.0°W﻿ / 11.0; -66.0
Type| Strike-slip
Max. intensity| MMI VIII (Severe) – MMI X (Extreme)[2]
IX (ESI 2007)
Tsunami| 5 meters[3]
Casualties| 140 dead,[4] 50+ injured[5]

The 1900 Venezuelan earthquake also known as the San Narciso earthquake (Spanish: 1900 terremoto de San Narciso), occurred on October 29 at between 4:30 and 4:45 am local time. This earthquake had an epicenter off Miranda State or near the Venezuelan capital Caracas, in the Cariaco Basin. It had an estimated moment magnitude of 7.6–7.7 and a surface-wave magnitude of 7.7–8.4. It had a maximum Mercalli intensity assigned VIII–X, causing landslides and liquefaction events. Many buildings were severely damaged or collapsed during the earthquake. It is thought to be the last great earthquake of the 19th century and the largest instrumentally recorded in the republic, having been felt throughout.[6]

## Earthquake

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The earthquake was associated with strike-slip faulting along either the La Tortuga or San Sebastián faults. These two faults are thought to be striking east–west off the northern Venezuelan coast. A recent study in 2015, concluded that the San Sebastián Fault was the structure responsible for this earthquake. The San Sebastián Fault is submarine for most of its length. Its onshore trace is parallel to the southern flanks of the Venezuelan Coastal Range. Older studies including one in 1984 assigned the San Sebastián Fault as the source after reassessing the earthquake intensity data. Audemard in 2002 used the idea of a seismic gap around the region where the earthquake struck. The rupture extent caused by the 1900 earthquake is located between that of the 1812 and 1853 earthquakes. Ocean-bottom surveys found young seafloor deformation and fault scarps which are evidence of the 1900 rupture. A rupture length of 220 km for an Mw 7.6 and 270 km for a Mw 7.7 with an average slip depth at 15 km has been suggested.[7]

### Magnitude

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This earthquake is larger than the magnitude 7.5 1812 Caracas earthquake, but was far less destructive. With a magnitude of 7.7 on the surface wave and moment magnitude scales, it is the largest instrumentally recorded earthquake in Venezuela.[7] The National Geophysical Data Center catalog lists this earthquake as having a surface wave magnitude of 8.4 while a 1983 catalog placed that figure at 7.7.[2][8] Charles Francis Richter also assigned the earthquake at Ms 8.4 in his 1958 book Elementary seismology.[9][10] In a 1992 catalog and 2020 study, this event was assigned Mw 7.6.[11]

### Aftershocks

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More than 250 aftershocks were recorded in the months following the main event. The aftershocks were disruptive to the local population. An aftershock is claimed to have woken then President of Venezuela Cipriano Castro in the middle of the night. Frightened by the tremors, he leaped off one of the windows of the Yellow House and suffered a broken ankle.[12]

## Impact

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With an epicenter in the Caribbean Sea, the earthquake badly affected the north-central Venezuelan coast. In the central region, the earthquake resulted in shaking as high as IX on the Modified Mercalli intensity scale, covering a 3,560 km2 region around the epicenter. The seaside cities of Macuto, Guarenas and Guatire were the most severely affected by the earthquake. The Los Roques archipelago in the Caribbean Sea suffered heavy impact, reportedly having the highest number of victims. Twenty-five people were killed in Guarenas.[2]

Large landslides and liquefactions took place in Anzoátegui, Aragua, Carabobo, Distrito Capital, Miranda and Vargas. The heavily populated localities that were affected include Barcelona, Onoto and Carenero. Some slight damage was reported in San Antonio de Los Altos, Paparo, Panaquire, Guarenas, Capaya, La Tortuga Island, Los Roques archipelago, Güigüe, San Diego, Clarines, Puerto Cabello and Caucagua.[13]

Iglesia de San Francisco, a church in Caracas, was severely damaged. Another church in Naiguatá was completely destroyed. In Macuto, landslides buried or destroyed railway lines serving the cities Caracas and La Guaira. Guatire saw 237 homes, a parish church, government house, and court offices damaged or collapsed.[12] In Guarenas, some 72 homes toppled.[14]

The total death toll from the earthquake is estimated to be over 140.[4] At least 50 people were injured.

### Effects on landscape and hydrological features

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At a seaside port in Barcelona named El Rincón, built on alluvium deposits from the Neverí River, many large cracks opened in the ground. Some cracks were longer than 300 meters. A 400 m2 area of alluvium in the city subsided significantly due to lateral spreading as a result of ground failure. Field observations also noted that an opening of the Neverí River was narrowed by more than two meters, while its water level rose. The water level in a number of saline wells rose substantially by several meters and began sloshing violently.[13]

Along the Unare River in Anzoátegui, portions of its bank slumped into the water. Large and deep fissures opened, ejecting mud and water. Seiches formed along the river, causing water to breach the channel by seven meters. A man was caught in the waves when he was taking a bath but managed to escape.[13]

In Carenero, Miranda, the ground sprouted black water that smelled of sulfur. Liquefaction caused several homes and other buildings to sink partially.[13]

Hot springs located near San Diego, Anzoátegui dired up some time after the earthquake.[13]

Residents living around Lake Tacarigua also described violent seiches in the lake as well as loud noises compared to that of a sea. They added that large flames and fire shot out of the ground near the lake shores.[13]

A 100-meter wide landslide buried and sealed off a section of the Caracas-La Guaira highway between Guaracarumbo and Ojo de Agua.[13]

## Tsunami

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A tsunami flooded the low-lying near shore zones of northern Venezuela. Waves swept into the Los Roques archipelago and north-central Venezuelan coasts. It manifested in the form of tidal bores at the mouth of the Neverí River which resulted in the rise in water level. The tsunami is estimated to be 1–meter high.[13] Witnesses at the coast at the mouth of the Guapo River in Puerto Tuy, Miranda reported seeing large waves up to 10 meters high, although this claim is disputed. Because the earthquake struck in complete darkness, before sunrise, it is unlikely the eyewitnesses could have a clear view of the wave. In addition, it is nearly impossible for them to survive being struck by the 10-meter tsunami. The small village of Paparo was partially submerged by the waves. A better estimate of the maximum tsunami wave height is 5 meters at Barlovento.[3] The tsunami may have been generated by a submarine landslide or significant vertical slip mechanism associated with faulting.

## Legacy

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The earthquake of 1900 was a catalyst in expanding research in seismology in Venezuela due to its size and being one of the last great historical earthquakes at the time. The first seismic instruments were brought into the country in the aftermath of the earthquake and installed at the Cagigal Observatory in November 1900 to early 1901.[12][15]

## See also

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* List of earthquakes in 1900
* List of earthquakes in Venezuela

## References

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1. ^ Vásquez, R; Guzmán, A L; Rodríguez, J A; Colón, S; Audemard, F; Cabas, Mauricio (2020). "Magnitude estimation of the 1900 earthquake in Venezuela based on its coseismic effects". IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering. 872 (1): 012034. Bibcode:2020MS&E..872a2034V. doi:10.1088/1757-899X/872/1/012034. hdl:11323/6540. ISSN 1757-899X. S2CID 222118329. Retrieved 12 June 2021.
2. ^ a b c "Significant Earthquake Information". NCEI/WDS Global Significant Earthquake Database. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Retrieved August 2, 2022.
3. ^ a b Franck Albert Audemard M.; Alejandra F. Leal Guzman (2017). "Reliability of first-hand accounts on the study of historical tsunamis in northeastern Venezuela (southeastern Caribbean Sea)". Annals of Geophysics. 60 (6). doi:10.4401/ag-7437. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
4. ^ a b Ferrer D., Cluff L. (1969). "Caracas, Venezuela earthquake of July 29, 1967" (PDF). Soil Engineering and Engineering Geology Observations. Proceedings of the 4th world conference on earthquake engineering. Santiago, Chile. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
5. ^ José Grases; Arnaldo Gutiérrez; Rafael Salas J. "LA INGENIERÍA SISMO-RESISTENTE" (PDF). p. 3. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
6. ^ "Tragedia de San Narciso. Terremoto de Caracas ocurrido en el año de 1900" (in Spanish). Radiorescate. 14 February 2019. Retrieved 12 June 2021.
7. ^ a b Colón, S.; Audemard, F.A.; Beck, C.; Avila, J.; Padrón, C.; De Batist, M.; Paolini, M.; Leal, A.F.; Van Welden, A. (2015). "The 1900 Mw 7.6 earthquake offshore north–central Venezuela: Is La Tortuga or San Sebastián the source fault?". Marine and Petroleum Geology. 67. Elsevier BV: 498–511\. Bibcode:2015MarPG..67..498C. doi:10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2015.06.005. ISSN 0264-8172.
8. ^ K. Abe, S. Noguchi (1983). "Revision of magnitudes of large shallow earthquakes, 1897–1912". Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors. 33 (1): 1–11\. Bibcode:1983PEPI...33....1A. doi:10.1016/0031-9201(83)90002-X. Retrieved 12 June 2021.
9. ^ Charles Francis Richter (1958). Elementary seismology (1 ed.). WH Freeman & Co. p. 768.
10. ^ Suárez, Gerardo; Nábělek, John (10 October 1990). "The 1967 Caracas Earthquake: Fault geometry, direction of rupture propagation and seismotectonic implications". Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth. 95 (B11): 17459–17474\. Bibcode:1990JGR....9517459S. doi:10.1029/JB095iB11p17459.
11. ^ J.F. Pacheco, L.R. Sykes (1992). "Seismic moment catalog of large shallow earthquakes, 1900 to 1989". Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America. 82 (3): 1306–1349\. Bibcode:1992BuSSA..82.1306P. doi:10.1785/BSSA0820031306. S2CID 132108756. Retrieved 12 June 2021.
12. ^ a b c "El movimiento telúrico tuvo una magnitud de 8,0". funvisis.gob.ve (in Spanish). Venezuelan Foundation for Seismological Research. Retrieved 12 June 2021.
13. ^ a b c d e f g h Colón, Sirel; Leal, Alejandra; Audemard, Franck; Vásquez, Raquel; Rodríguez, José Antonio (2019). "Análisis macrosísmico del sismo MW~7,6 de san narciso del 29 de octubre de 1900, aplicando la escala medio–ambiental de intensidad sísmica ESI 2007" [Macroseismic analysis of the earthquake MW ~ 7.6 in San Narciso of October 29, 1900, applying the environmental scale of seismic intensity ESI 2007]. Journal of the Faculty of Engineering (in Spanish). 34 (1). ISSN 2443-4477. Retrieved 12 June 2021.
14. ^ Liendo, Daniel (2019). "A 119 años del Sismo de San Narciso el Gobierno Bolivariano promueve una cultura sísmica en comunidades y escuelas". minci.gob.ve (in Spanish). Ministry of Communication and Information. Retrieved 12 June 2021.
15. ^ R. Altez; J. Grases (2004). "A brief history of a restless vision: seismological research in Venezuela". Annals of Geophysics. 47 (2–3). doi:10.4401/ag-3312. Retrieved 13 June 2021.2–3&rft.date=2004&rft_id=info:doi/10.4401/ag-3312&rft.au=R.+Altez&rft.au=J.+Grases&rft_id=https://www.annalsofgeophysics.eu/index.php/annals/article/view/3312&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:1900+San+Narciso+earthquake" class="Z3988">

## External links

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* The International Seismological Centre has a  16957719 bibliography and/or authoritative data for this event.

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* e

Earthquakes in 1900–1909

1900|

* Caracas (7.7, Oct 28)

1901|

* Black Sea (7.2, Mar 31)
* Cheviot (6.9, Apr 13)
* Richfield (7.0, Nov 13)

1902|

* Shamakhi (6.9, Feb 13)†
* Guatemala (7.5, Apr 18)†
* Turkestan (7.7, Aug 22)‡ †
* Andijan (6.4, Dec 16)‡ †

1904|

* Kresna (6.9 & 7.2, Apr 4) †
* Cape Turnagain (6.8–7.2, Aug 9)
* Samos (6.8, Aug 11)
* Oslo (5.4, October 23)
* Douliu (6.1, Nov 6)†

1905|

* Kangra (7.8, Apr 4) †‡
* Tsetserleg (8.0, July 9)
* Bolnai (8.4, July 23)
* Calabria (7.2, Sept 8) †

1906|

* Ecuador–Colombia (8.8, Jan 31) †
* Meishan (6.8, Mar 17) †
* San Francisco (7.8, Apr 18) †
* Swansea (5.2, June 27)
* Valparaíso (8.2, Aug 16) †‡
* Aleutian Islands (8.4, Aug 17)
* Xinjiang (7.9, Dec 22) †

1907|

* Sumatra (7.5–8.0, Jan 4) †
* Kingston (6.5, Jan 14) †
* Qaratog (7.4, Oct 21) †‡
* Calabria (5.9, Oct 23) †

1908|

* Messina (7.1, Dec 28) †‡

1909|

* Borujerd (7.3, Jan 23) †‡
* Benavente (6.0, Apr 23) †
* Kerinci (7.6, Jun 4) †
* Provence (6.2, June 11) †
* Anegawa (6.9, August 14) †
* Wabash River (5.1, Sept 27)

† indicates earthquake resulting in at least 30 deaths
‡ indicates the deadliest earthquake of the year

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* e

Earthquakes in the Caribbean

Historical|

* 1641 Caracas (6.5)
* 1692 Jamaica (7.5)
* 1751 Port-au-Prince (8.0)
* 1766 Southeastern Caribbean (6.5–7.5)
* 1770 Port-au-Prince (7.5)
* 1787 Boricua (8.0)
* 1812 Caracas (7.5)
* 1839 Martinique (8.0)
* 1842 Cap-Haïtien (8.1)
* 1843 Guadeloupe (8.5)
* 1867 Virgin Islands (7.5)
* 1875 Cúcuta (7.5)

20th century|

* 1900 Venezuela (7.7)
* 1907 Kingston (6.5)
* 1918 San Fermín (7.1)
* 1929 Cumaná (6.9)
* 1943 Puerto Rico (7.7)
* 1946 Dominican Republic (7.8)
* 1967 Caracas (6.7)
* 1974 Lesser Antilles (6.9)
* 1984 San Pedro Basin (6.7)
* 1997 Cariaco (6.9)

21st century|

* 2003 Dominican Republic (6.4)
* 2004 Les Saintes (6.3)
* 2007 Martinique (7.4)
* 2009 Swan Islands (7.3)
* 2010 Haiti (7.0)
* 2018 Swan Islands (7.5)
* 2018 Venezuela (7.3)
* 2018 Haiti (5.9)
* 2019–20 Puerto Rico (6.4)
* 2020 Caribbean (7.7)
* 2021 Haiti (7.2)

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