5. Ruins of the City
The building of the palace and royal Audiencia was mostly overthrown; and the governor, Don Diego Faxardo, who at the time had retired to his apartments, was in danger of being buried in the ruins. But it pleased the Lord that he escaped, without injury, to the Plaza de Armas, where a field-tent was set up for him, in which he lived for several months, until a suitable dwelling of wood was built for him. The greater part of the royal chapel also fell, and what remained was in so bad condition that it will be necessary to build it practically anew. The cathedral was totally destroyed; tower, roofs, chapels, and even the foundations, were overthrown. The hospital for the Spaniards was ruined, but no one was killed; for to those who were very ill, and unable to move their bodies, necessity gave swift feet to carry them to a place of safety. The seminary of Santa Potenciana, which is a refuge for orphan girls and the wives of deserving men who are absent, was greatly damaged; one wing fell, and carried down many girls, eight being killed, and thirty wounded. At the seminary of La Misericordia, which also is a refuge for girls, the house was not much damaged; but the church, which was handsome and elegant, was so injured that a great part of it has been pulled down, in order to rebuild it. Outside of the city walls, the parish church of Santiago and its tower were overthrown; and an Indian, who was ringing the animas, said that a cavalier told him that he would save him; and the Indian was actually found lying on the ground, without any injury. It seems a miracle, although it can be easily understood that the great St. James, whose church that was, rewarded the good deed of ringing the animas by saving the Indian. The churches of Nuestra Señora de Guia and San Antonio were rendered unserviceable. The Order of St. Dominic lost its convent and church, and a great part of the college of Santo Tomas; but neither the religious nor the students were injured. Another building, that of the seminary called San Juan de Letran—for orphan boys, who are under instruction by the fathers of that order—fell to the ground; and it was through the providence of the Lord that all the boys, more than one hundred and twenty in number, escaped alive. The church of the fathers of St. Francis was badly shaken, and the walls surrounding the convent were ruined, as well as a hospital for the mulattoes, in which some perished. It was necessary to remove the nuns from the convent of Santa Clara and shelter them in the orchards belonging to the house of a gentleman, who piously lent that place so that they might sojourn there with the satisfaction and propriety of their own cloister. The order that suffered least was that of the fathers of St. Augustine, although their convent was considerably shaken, and the church tower fell. The Recollect fathers of the same saint were not so fortunate; a great portion of their convent and church fell, killing a religious who was a faithful servant of God and thus regarded by all. The Society of Jesus did not fare the worst: the class-rooms for arts and theology (which was an old building) fell, and a part of the main structure in the new building, which is very handsome and costly. The church, although it is the tallest in Manila, stood firm—except that the tiles fell from the cupola. At the college of San Joseph (which is in charge of the same order) one wing fell down, and was entirely demolished; and the rest of the building was badly shaken, especially an elegant chapel which was adorned by pictures of the twelve apostles. Not one of these pictures was thrown down by the earthquake, except that of St. Andrew, in token that on his day his church and even the city were destroyed.
Outside of Manila and within its district many churches, and convents of different orders which ministered to the natives, were ruined. Notable among these was the church in the village of San Miguel, administered by the fathers of the Society; both church and house were totally ruined. In the house, at the time, were Father Francisco de Roa, the provincial, and Father Juan de Salazar, who had been provincial six years before. Father Francisco de Roa was buried up to his shoulders in the ruins, from which he was rescued badly injured. Father Juan de Salazar lost this earthly life, but gained the divine life of heaven, which he had already imitated on earth; he was removed, mortally injured, from the ruins, but there was time to absolve him and administer the sacrament of extreme unction; he expired shortly afterward, with the peace of spirit which his great purity of conscience had secured him. Also near Manila, in the village of Minondoc, in charge of the fathers of St. Dominic, their magnificent church, the erection of which had been completed a few years before, was overthrown; the convent of San Francisco del Monte, and its church, which belongs to the religious of St. Francis, were destroyed; and the convent of Santa Ana was so much damaged as to be uninhabitable. A great many handsome and delightful houses for recreation, on the banks of the river, were also destroyed. It may be said, in a word, that the whole of Manila was destroyed; for neither within nor without the city was there a building which did not need a great deal of repair to make it habitable.
6. Other damages and effects of the earthquake in the islands
All this occurred in that night; at dawn on the following morning, most of the people left the city and took shelter in the suburbs, [even] in the humblest huts of the Indians, which are built of bamboo and nipa. Others built huts in the plazas and on the beach, to which they came as exiles from their own houses and native land, yet in sight of it.
Surrounded, as we are, by so many thousands of infidels, the fact that no lawless acts occurred was due to the foresight and care of Don Diego Faxardo, governor of the islands. He ordered the sargento-mayor and commander of the troops, Manuel Estacio Venegas (who is at present the officer nearest to the government, and with faithfulness and care puts into execution its official acts and those belonging to the military department), to man the walls; and that the cavaliers should be occupied by the infantry companies and the inhabitants, which was done. Troops were also sent outside of the city, and detachments were formed to protect those who had left it and taken shelter in the suburbs.
Processions and public prayers then followed, and all were accompanied with as many acts of penitence as in Holy Week; many confessed, and few contented themselves with what had occurred since their last confession, but confessed the sins of a lifetime. To this end the religious hastened through the fields, the beach and the plazas, and were untiring in the labors of their ministries; they preached penitence to those who did not need many arguments to move them to comply. The dead were buried by the dozen; every one prayed to God for mercy, and entreated that He would withhold His scourge.
On the fifth of December, five days after the first shock of earthquake, another one occurred as violent as the first, at eleven o’clock at night, but no fatality occurred, as all were prepared; the destruction of many other buildings was completed; and the city was left in such condition that one could not walk through it. The effects of these shocks were terrible, also, in other provinces of these islands. Whole Indian villages were overthrown, as their huts are built of so light materials, bamboos and palm-leaves; and hills were leveled. Rivers were dried, which afterward flowed again; others, leaving their beds, inundated the villages; great fissures, and even chasms, appeared in the open fields. In the Manila River the disturbance and commotion in its waves was so great that it seemed as if they would flood all the country; for their fury urged the river from its bed, and its waters flowed over the bridge.[5]