Myanmar Earthquake of 1839

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SOAS Bulletin of Burma Research, Vol. 1, No. 2, Autumn 2003, ISSN 1479-8484 Some Documents of Tharrawaddy’s Reign: 1837-1846, Part I [Letter from Maulmain, 9 April 1839] By Eugenio Kincaid American Baptist Missionary Magazine 20.1 (January 1840) ….… In addition to this, Ava and the neighboring cities have just been visited by an earthquake more calamitous and awful than was ever before known in the empire. I will extract a few passages from a letter received this evenings, which contains some particulars in relation to it. Another letter says, “the destruction and desolation are most appalling. The three cities are heaps of ruins, wherever there were brick buildings and pagodas. The waters of the river rose up, and flowed back. The great shock did not last above five minutes.” “Amarapura, 23rd March 1839” A most appalling event occurred between the hours of 3 and 4 this morning. We were all fast asleep, when a rumbling noise, resembling thunder, awoke us, and about ten minutes after, our houses shook with such violence that we were unable to stand, and were obliged to support ourselves by laying hold of one of the posts. The ground near the residency is rent in different places, and large quantities of black sand have been thrown upon its surface. In the plains, immense chasms have been formed, from three to four yards in breadth, and extending north and south to the distance of a mile and upwards. None of the individuals attached to the residency were hurt, but I am sorry to acquaint you that the whole of the brick houses and pagodas in the cities of Amarapura, Ava, and Sagaing, have become a heap of ruins, burying in their fall the unfortunate people who were asleep at the awful moment! The loss of lives is supposed to be great. At this city alone, upwards of one hundred have been already reported. Forty Burmans have been buried among the ruins of the buildings about the palace, and upwards of twenty Mussulmans in the different mosques. Ava is supposed to have suffered most. In a day or two we expect accounts of the loss sustained in that city and Sagaing.

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Page 1: Myanmar Earthquake of 1839

SOAS Bulletin of Burma Research, Vol. 1, No. 2, Autumn 2003, ISSN 1479-8484

Some Documents of Tharrawaddy’s Reign: 1837-1846, Part I

[Letter from Maulmain, 9 April 1839] By

Eugenio Kincaid

American Baptist Missionary Magazine 20.1 (January 1840)

….… In addition to this, Ava and the neighboring cities have just been visited by an earthquake more calamitous and awful than was ever before known in the empire. I will extract a few passages from a letter received this evenings, which contains some particulars in relation to it. Another letter says, “the destruction and desolation are most appalling. The three cities are heaps of ruins, wherever there were brick buildings and pagodas. The waters of the river rose up, and flowed back. The great shock did not last above five minutes.”

“Amarapura, 23rd March 1839”

A most appalling event occurred between the hours of 3 and 4 this morning. We were all fast asleep, when a rumbling noise, resembling thunder, awoke us, and about ten minutes after, our houses shook with such violence that we were unable to stand, and were obliged to support ourselves by laying hold of one of the posts. The ground near the residency is rent in different places, and large quantities of black sand have been thrown upon its surface. In the plains, immense chasms have been formed, from three to four yards in breadth, and extending north and south to the distance of a mile and upwards. None of the individuals attached to the residency were hurt, but I am sorry to acquaint you that the whole of the brick houses and pagodas in the cities of Amarapura, Ava, and Sagaing, have become a heap of ruins, burying in their fall the unfortunate people who were asleep at the awful moment! The loss of lives is supposed to be great. At this city alone, upwards of one hundred have been already reported. Forty Burmans have been buried among the ruins of the buildings about the palace, and upwards of twenty Mussulmans in the different mosques. Ava is supposed to have suffered most. In a day or two we expect accounts of the loss sustained in that city and Sagaing.

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Chapter VI

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Ten miles above the capital we landed, at Mengoon, to visit the extraordinary Folly of the King Men-tara-gyi, or Bodau Phya (the " Grandfather King), as he is commonly called by the Burmese, the great grandfather of the reigning prince, and founder of Amarapoora.

This King, who died in 1819, after a rule of nearly forty years, spent twenty years of the earlier part of his reign in piling together this monstrous mass of bricks and mortar, employing on it the unpaid services of a vast number of his subjects, and an expenditure besides, it is said, of 10,000 viss of silver. Some say that it had been foretold to him that when the temple was finished his life would come to an end. But, in any case, he left it incomplete, and the great earthquake of 1839 shattered it to the foundations.

This ruin is doubtless one of the hugest masses of solid brickwork in the world. It stands on a basement of five successive terraces of little height, the lower terrace forming a square of about 450 feet. From the upper terrace starts up the vast cubical pile of the pagoda, a square of about 230 feet in plan, and rising to a height of more than 100 feet, with slightly sloping walls. Above this, it contracts in successive terraces, three of which had been completed, or nearly so, at the time the work was abandoned.

Fig. 34.

In one of the neighbouring groves is a miniature of the structure (fig. 34), as it was intended to be. From this we see that the completed pile would have been little less than 500 feet high. The whole height of the ruin as it stands is about 165 feet from the ground, and the solid content must be between 6,000,000 and 7,000,000 of cubic feet of brickwork.

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The fracture that has taken place is tremendous, and the effects of earthquake are seen on a scale that rarely occurs. The whole mass is shattered, torn, and split. Masses of wall 100 feet in height, and from 10 to 20 in thickness appear as if they had been bodily lifted from their bases, and heaved forward several feet. The angles have chiefly suffered, and these are fallen in a vast pile of ruin; blocks of coherent brickwork, as big as small houses, lying heaped in hideous confusion on one another.

Up among the loose bricks and fallen masses at the north-east angle, there is a practicable though not easy ascent. Reaching the top, you find the whole surface rent into prisms by yawning crevasses, like those (as my companion aptly suggested) of an Alpine glacier. A square projection, which rises in the centre above all, appears to be a detached pier descending, unconnected with the rest of the pile, the whole way to the ground. This, too, is thrown much off its perpendicular.

The whole thing is a perfect geological phenomenon.

Strange to say, many stacks of bricks still stand in place on the top, as they were left by the bricklayers, probably thirty years before the earthquake; part of the scaffolding which formed an ascent in the middle of each of the four sides still makes a staggering attempt to hold on to the wall, tall teak masts, with fragmentary gangways attached, which kick their heels in empty air; and on the basement terraces great heaps of lime, ready for the work, have hardened into anomalous rocks, which will puzzle future geologists.

There is a doorway on each face, pedimented and pilastered in the Pagan style of architecture; but the cavity does not penetrate more than 14 or 15 feet.

This pagoda was in progress when Captain Hiram Cox was here as Envoy, in 1797; and he gives a curious account of the manner in which the interior of the basement was formed for the reception of the dedicated treasures. A number of quadrangular pits or cells were formed in the brickwork for this purpose. These were all lined with plates of lead, and were roofed with beams of lead about five inches square. This precious engineering device for the support of a spire 500 feet high was one of his majesty's own conception, and perhaps may have given rise to various patched cracks in the brickwork, which are evidently of older date than the earthquake [These cracks are mentioned by Colonel Burney, who says the natives ascribed them to an earthquake which had taken place about fifteen years before his visit, i.e. about 1816].

Overlooking the river, in front of the eastern face of the temple, stood two colossal leogryphs in brick. The heads and shoulders lie in shapeless masses round about, and only the huge haunches and tails remain in position, gigantically ludicrous. These figures were originally 95 feet high, as Cox tells us,

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and each of the white marble eyeballs, intended for the monsters, measured 13 feet in circumference.

North of the temple, on a low circular terrace, stands the biggest bell in Burma; the biggest in the world probably, Russia apart. It is slung on a triple beam of great size, cased and hooped with metal; this beam resting on two piers of brickwork, enclosing massive frames of teak. The bell does not now swing free. The supports were so much shaken by the earthquake, that it was found necessary to put props under the bell, consisting of blocks of wood carved into grotesque figures. Of course no tone can now be got out of it. But at any time it must have required a battering-ram to elicit its music.

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Another event that occurred during Capt. Macleod's residence at Amarapoora was the memorable earthquake of the 23d March, 1839, which shattered every brick building in the valley of Ava, and converted the great pile at Mengoon into the singular phenomenon which I have described in Chapter VI. Repeated shocks occurred during the succeeding months, one of which threw down the pillars of the new Palace then in process of erection at Amarapoora.

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The village of Shanyua is situated close to the junction of the Myit-nge and Nadoung-gya, and is not more than three-quarters of a mile from the large town of Shuezayan.

In the latter is an extensive group of temples, clustered together on a rising ground to the north of the village. One of these is much reverenced. It is traditionally said to have been built by a Shan princess, probably by a Shan princess who had become Queen.

The entire group has been greatly shattered by the earthquake of 1839, and only a few out of the number have been repaired.

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Note upon Earthquakes in Burma.

The Burman Empire has frequently been visited by severe earthquake-shocks. To this day many, though seldom serious, shocks occur during the year. While the Mission remained at Amarapoora, two slight shocks occurred, on the 18th day of September, and on the 5th day of October; the latter of these was scarcely felt. But the evidences of former shocks, destructive to houses, Pagodas, and Kyoungs, meet the eye on every side. Huge masses of masonry overthrown,—buildings rent from top to bottom,—others half upset, and looking as if the next slight vibration would bring them down, are scattered in numbers over the hills of Tsagaing, in the now deserted capital of Ava, and along the river-banks to the north of Amarapoora.

The majority of these ruined appearances are the result of the severest earthquake on record in the country, and to the effects of which most of this destruction is due. It occurred on the morning of the 23rd March, 1839, at about 4 o'clock A.M. The shock was felt throughout the whole Burman Empire, from Bamo, on the northern frontier, to Rangoon; but of very varying force, and with varying destructive effects [It was felt distinctly by Dr. Richardson, then travelling in Siam, three days north of Bangkok - Jour. As. Soc. Ben. vol. ix.-H. Y]. Mr. Spears, who was in Amarapoora at the time, has, in reply to some queries, kindly favoured me with the following description:—

“On Saturday morning, 23rd March, 1839, at about 4 o'clock A.M, Amarapoora was visited by an earthquake that surprised the oldest inhabitants by its strength—Burman history mentions nothing of the kind having taken place before. I was in bed and asleep at the time, but was soon awoke by a tremendous roar, and the tiles from the roof of the house coming down about my ears; the motion so great that I had some difficulty in finding the door, but whether vertical or horizontal, I had not presence of mind sufficient to judge at the time. I did not even know it was an earthquake until it was finished. The shock may have taken up about thirty seconds in all.

"When I did get into the open air, I found the heavens without a cloud, and although there was not a breath of wind, the trees shook as if it were blowing a gale. The dust rising all round from the destroyed houses gave the sky a peculiar appearance, not easily to be forgotten.

"From the appearance the ruins presented in the morning, I have little doubt the motion was from north to south. The river did rise a little, as if its bed had been obstructed, but did no damage to the boats, even to those that were deeply laden. I never heard of a wave, but the banks of the river, between Amarapoora and Ava, were rent in many places, presenting chasms of from five to twenty feet in width, from which large quantities of water, and sand of a blackish

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appearance, had been ejected. The earthquake was not accompanied by any perceptible smell.

"Judging from the appearance the city walls of Amarapoora and Ava presented the next morning after the great shock, I am decidedly of opinion that it must have been felt stronger in the latter than in the former city.

"At Tsagaing, I would not say that it was stronger than at Ava, either on the hill-tops or on the river-side. My reason for supposing this is that the Pagodas on both sides of the river presented the same appearance: that is, they were all deprived of their ' htees,' and the same quantity of brickwork from the top.

"This earthquake was felt at Bamo and Rangoon; in fact, all over the Burman territory. In Rangoon, the time observed was very nearly the same as here; it did no damage, but was strong enough to ring pagoda and some house-bells, and alarm the inhabitants.

"From all I have been able to learn, I think Ava must have been about the centre.

"After the great quake, we had strong shocks all day, every five or twenty minutes, but none coming up to the first in violence. They were, almost invariably, preceded a second or two by a sound resembling a cannon fired at a distance ; or, at other times, as if a number of carriages were passing over a rough bridge under ground. There were two distinct kinds of earthquakes : that preceded by the cannon-like sound had little or no rolling motion, but more resembled some one thumping up from below, as it were ; it made the houses 'dirrl,' and set the slates and glasses a-dancing. The other came like the wave of the sea, with a motion generally from east to west; at least, that was my impression at the time.

"The under-ground sounds seemed to come always from the eastwards.

"For four or five days we had nothing but earthquakes, every fifteen to thirty minutes; and for six months after, scarcely a day passed without one. In fact, it is only the last three years that we have been tolerably free from them.

"The impression left on the people was, that it was very unsafe to live in brick buildings, unless a wooden framework is put up inside of them, which is always done now by any Burman wishing to have a pucka house.

"There never was a correct list of the number of people killed; but there must have been from three to four hundred. Ava suffered most, from having some brick Kyoungs, where a great number of Poongyis were destroyed."—Amarapoora, 24th Sept. 1855.

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In a MS. Journal of Captain McLeod, in the Foreign Office, Calcutta, there is a brief and very uncircumstantial notice of the same earthquake.

"1839, March 23rd.—At about half-past one this morning, we were suddenly roused from our sleep by two terrible shocks of an earthquake. Though numerous concussions continued to take place, none were so severe as the two first. In the morning, not a Pagoda was to be seen standing whole. Every brick building in the town had either been thrown down, burying in their ruins numbers of people, or so rent and damaged as to render their being taken down necessary.

"The Pagodas crowning the height of Tsagaing shared the fate of those at Amarapoora. In the neighbourhood of the Residency extensive and deep fissures had spread out, from which large quantities of water had been discharged, and the earth in many places hove up with water springing up from the centre. The wells were all choked up and dry."—MS. Journal of Capt. McLeod, for 1839.

Again he notices a shock of earthquake which occurred on March 25th, during his visit to the King.

He states that the King of Burma informed him that their religious treatises told him that earthquakes occurred every twenty or thirty years, and were severer on the sea-coast than inland. The Burmese attributed earthquakes to the movement of some animal in the earth, but that foreigners maintained that they proceeded from the sudden union of certain matters in the bowels of the earth, and as a proof of this hypothesis, that they buried certain preparations in the earth, which after a few days would cause the same sensation as an earthquake, and throw open the earth, &c. That during earthquakes eyesight grew dim, and oppression in the chest was also felt.

I do not find further notices of any earthquakes in Burma, although, probably, the form in which phenomena attending the death of kings are stated by Padre San Germano to be recorded in the Royal Chronicle, may be taken as proof of their not unfrequent occurrence.

The large lake called Endau-gyi, west of Mogoung, is said to cover the site of a large Shan town, called Tumansye. The natives affirm that it was destroyed by an earthquake (Journal Asiatic Society Bengal, vol. vi. p. 274).

Col. Burney (MS. Journal), on 24th April, 1830, then just arrived at Ava, records distinct and severe shocks of earthquake. "The last earthquake occurred about two years ago." And in visiting Mengoon Pagoda in the following year, 1831, he mentions that the building was then cracked on every side, and that this was said to have been occasioned by an earthquake fifteen years before, or in 1816.

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Of these and many other earthquakes, there are now unfortunately no records to be found. But in future years, it is much to be desired that careful notice of such phenomena should be preserved. It is highly probable that the basin of the Upper Irawadi will then be found to be connected, and to form one great area of disturbance, with the Upper Assam valley, where earthquake shocks are by no means unfrequent.