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Desert Trails of Atacama

out the province, and there follows the accompanying table of damages:

Houses completely tuincd.).... duce rreseistyss ts teevee pee 15 Honses:aninhabitable:3: 29.254,0<.04+,te-es eatemes ateeees os 224 The re-erection of which will cost....-...---0-: sere ree rs 660,000 pesos Losses in fapias (mud walls), garden walls, and enclosures...... 140,000 Shopkeepers’ losses in goods and furniture... ......2.......00. 40,000 Public buildings, repairs to church, prison, hospital, ........... 80,000 Other losses.) 2st oeaess nat diasn yan eases aa tilaerek 10,000 Votes ot ora ets arbo cies Bt etry elisa dn pict aps 930,000 pesos

It is further noted that all the smelting works at Caldera were totally destroyed except those of the Copiapó Smelting Company, whose establishment was built on rocky ground.

After the earthquake of 1877 many of the townsfolk slept in the hills every night. In June, 1909, there was also a severe earthquake. Considerable damage was done in the earth- quakes of 1918 and 1922. Under such circumstances the people run out into the streets at even the slightest shocks. I wit- nessed such a scramble from indoors in July, 1913, when a slight shock was felt. I had earlier had a similar experience at Pica east of the nitrate desert. In the latter case the distant but rapidly nearing rumble that preceded the sharp shock was most impressive.

Effects of the Earthquake of 1918

Only a few of the better class of houses in Copiapó are made of wood, and even these have outbuildings or extensions made of other material, such as adobe and cane. Some of the wood for house building is imported from southern Chile; and some, the greater part, is imported from Oregon, Washington, and California. By far the larger part of the city is composed of houses of a cheaper class. There are four main types of houses: (1) cane of Guayaquil, (2) brea (a resinous shrub), (3) adobe, and (4) earth, according to the classification of Linnemann.[1] The types are named in the order of their quality, from the best down. The houses made of earth are built of blocks about

  1. Clemens Linnemann: Informe sobre el tcrremoto de Copiapé del 4 de Diciembre de 1918, Bol, Minero. de la Soc. Nael, de Mineria, Vol. 34, 1922, pp. 412-420.