THE MUZO EARTHQUAKE (3 APRIL 1646) IN LIGHT OF AN EXCEPTIONAL COLONIAL DOCUMENT THE ACCOUNT OF DON BARTOLOME DE MAZMELA Y POVEDA

Abstract

Some days after the terrible earthquake which destroyed the colonial town of Los Muzos on April 3 1646, Don Bartolome de Mazmela y Poveda, a local priest. wrote an account which gives valuable information on the effects of the phenomenon. The damage caused in Los Muzos and in the whole region, the occurrence of a series of quakes during severa) weeks (aftershocks), and the religious ceremonies celebrated during two weeks in Los Muzos are the main subjects included in the document.

The important data furnished by Don Bartolome de Mazmela allows to advancement of several ideas on the earthquake. It probably was a shallow event whose epicenter was located southwest of Muzo, within an important seismogenic area which has not received enough attention up to now. From a cullural point of view, the account reveals the tremendous impact caused on the colonial cornunity by earthquakes, and by natural disasters in general. The total misunderstanding of their causes led the authorities and the community to interpret them in mythological terms.