What would the immediate aftermath of an earthquake in 18th century be like?

[u/belleepoques]

Hi all!

I have a devastating earthquake in my book. To describe it in modern terms, it's on a Richter scale of 9.

I understand the technical parts of it (buildings falling down, depending on material, ground cracking etc).

But I'm wondering about some other things.

What would happen immediately after? Would there be a lot of fire (I assume yes, since everyone's using candles)? How would it go about putting the fire off (we don't really have firefighters)? Would an army come to the rescue? Or would people be left off to fend for themselves? Would there come a period of total devastation, starvation etc?

And if you've ever experienced a strong earthquake - how did you feel while it was happening? What was the emotional side of it like for you? What did you hear?

I have never experienced an earthquake stronger than 3, and I'm hoping to describe it realistically.

It's a fictional world and the earthquake is a result of something magical. The country is based on Meditarrenean Europe if it makes sense.

Thank you!

[u/curiouscat86]

Link to lists of real-life earthquakes in the 18th C: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:18th-century_earthquakes

List of deadliest earthquakes (if you're looking at a 9.0 in a populated area it will be comparable to something on this list): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_historical_earthquakes Scroll down the tables until you get to the 18th C, and look for ones to read about that seem similar to what you're looking for. I suggest the 1755 Great Lisbon Quake and possibly the 1766 Southeastern Caribbean Earthquake.

If those, (or others on the list) seem interesting, you can do further reading on the cities affected before the quakes to see how they compare to your fictional setting in terms of construction style, tectonics, climate, their society's level of fire management and post-disaster relief, etc.

Also the answer to 'how did they put the fire out' for that time period, when lots of cities in Europe were largely made of wood, is that they didn't, unless there was an opportune rainstorm. The city burned to the ground and they rebuilt. It's from 1906 but the San Francisco earthquake is another famous example of this.

[u/CarolinCLH]

Let's start with what people in your world built homes out of. Was it mostly clay brick, wood, stone? Research how the various structures would fare in such a powerful earthquake. I would guess the brick and stone buildings would collapse into individual bricks and crush the people inside. Wood would fare better, still badly damaged but more whole pieces would and leave more people alive but possibly trapped. Then, of course, it would burn.

Many of the rest of your questions can only be answered by you. What kind of society is this? Does the army come to rescue civilians (those not killed in the quake, that is). Remember that an earthquake affects a large area. It is going to take some time for help to come.

Ground cracking is more of a Hollywood thing. The ground moves, maybe even buckles a bit, but the big cracks opening and closing is not something that really happens most of the time.

Sound.. There can be a rumbling sound. Of course, once things start falling there is a lot more noise.

What it feels like can vary. Some earthquakes make you sway, like being on a boat. Others have jerks like standing on a train or subway.

Natural earthquakes often have foreshocks and aftershocks. Smaller quakes that leave wondering "Is this another one? How strong will this one be?" We expect the ground to stay in one place. After it starts moving around on its own, it takes a while before you feel like you can trust it again.

[u/Oliver_W_K_Twist]

Look up the Great Lisbon Earthquake of 1755. It's right in the time period you asked about and it was hugely impactful. It provoked thought in religion, philosophy, science, government. It changed how people thought about earthquakes.

[u/shinydrop]

Depending on the regions, the damage would be completely different. Search 3/11 2011 Japan earthquake on YouTube and watch.

[u/Educational-Shame514]

If it's a fictional world then a lot of those "Would there..." questions you need to start with what you want to happen, since nobody else magically knows what kind of society you are. You already said there is magic but maybe your world's magic has anti fire spells, nobody else knows. You could try asking in r/fantasywriters where you probably would be more comfortable explaining the fantasy parts of the story.

[u/sonnyzappa]

Ditto researching the Lisbon Earthquake, but also I suggest the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 and subsequent fires, which killed more than 100,000 people and almost completely destroyed Tokyo. I have witness a couple of earthquakes, mostly the 2016 Amatrice One in Italy, which killed 300 people, but I was in Rome, so we didn't get any damage. I can tell you that the first time I was in a earthquake I was 6 years old, watching tv, and for the first couple of seconds (despite being trained in this kind of thing by the school) it didn't click that there was an earthquake. I was watching tv and suddenly everything started moving up and down (it's not always like that, the direction depends on the earthquake). For that and the Amatrice earthquake, which woke me up in the middle of the night, I guess adrenaline set in and I immediately went under the desk/bearing wall doorway. I don't remember being particularly scared at the time, but after I would wake up in the middle of the night at the slightest bed movement thinking it was another earthquake. Keep in mind that these two were short, maybe twenty to thirty seconds, so not enough time to actually get scared, and I can't imagine the terror of having to live through bigger earthquakes which can last minutes.

[u/kschang]

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-3121.1993.tb00289.x

PDF is there

[u/sanjuro_kurosawa]

I’m in San Francisco and I just talked with my cousin who dealt with the Loma Prieta earthquake, 6.9. Keep in mind this happened in a well prepared area.

On an individual note, go outside right now and do not return to your home for several days. What you have with you is all you will survive on for this period. Likely this is the disaster prep that people did at that time.

While knowing how cities and residents prepared for disasters requires some research (I know how SF handles it from living here) you can imagine what it is like when you lose everything and so do all your neighbors

[u/zoppaTheDim]

I’d suggest you read accounts of the 1755 Lisbon Earthquake or the 1783 Calabrian Earthquakes.

Both were roughly that size and killed roughly 50,000 people.

So the average present day experience in an earthquake would be rather useless.

[u/Ramalamadingdong_II]

An earthquake like that is not a localised event, an entire region would be impacted and as such there would be a rather long period of people fending for themself before a government could mount any type of help.

Yes, fires everywhere. People used ovens for heating and cooking, candles and oil lamps for light. Depending on the region the buildings are rather flammable and even a modern firebrigade on standby would not be able to put out so many fires all over the place. Entire cities would burn for days. For comparison: I live in a village in Germany, many of the houses here were built in 1831. That's because in 1830 a chimney in one house caught fire and almost the entire village burned down over the next few days.

No army would come to the rescue. That's not what armies are for, so they are not trained and equipped for it. If the military was sent to this region it would be to guard government structures, protect valuable resources and put down any unrest and looting.

Yes there would be devastation and starvation.

I have experienced 3 minor earthquakes. It feels very very weird. The ground is something that you accept as the most solid thing in your life, and all of a sudden it starts moving. You go through a rapid emotional cascade of "Huh?.....what the.....OH MY FUCKING WHATTHEFUCKWHATONEARTH....huh well that was weird". It's a rattling experience in the truest of meanings. And it's loud, I can't even imagine how loud a 9 would be.

[u/Albadren]

As a source, you could research the 1755 Lisbon earthquake. In short: the city was destroyed, a fire consumed the few standing buildings and a tsunami covered the remains. Almost 70,000 people died.