Martin Henry

On the afternoon of Monday, January 14, 1907, exactly at 3:30, Kingston rumbled. In 36 seconds of hell every building suffered some damage or was completely thrown down like a pile of bricks. And they were brick buildings.

The Daily Telegraph of St John, New Brunswick in Canada, like many other newspapers, ran stories of the devastation from telegraph dispatches. I am grateful to Franklin McDonald, a former head of the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management, for the Telegraph stories. The paper on Thursday January 17 reported that, "Without a warning the earth began to shake and tremble at 3:30 Monday afternoon. The shock which came from the westward, lasted exactly thirty six seconds. The whole city like a ship in a choppy sea and buildings reeled and fell. "A dense cloud of dust rose and enveloped Kingston in semi-darkness. The shocks were most destructive along the harbor front where entire streets were levelled and crowds of frightened, shrieking people streamed northwards towards the Race Course, hundreds with heads and bodies cut and bruised, streaming with blood." At least 1,000 persons perished in the earthquake and the fire which followed.

Quickly set up

The offices of The Daily Gleaner too were demolished by the earthquake and fire. The paper quickly set up shop at Headquarter's House, the seat of Government on Duke Street, and bravely struggled to get the news out using the surviving printing equipment of the Government Printing Office. The paper tallied deaths and amputations.

In a Friday, January 18 editorial, "The Earthquake and the Future", the paper said, "The business centre of Kingston is today a mass of ruins, and practically no portion of the city has been left untouched.

"The blow has been terrible". Once more we are called upon to fight our way forward. We will do so. We will not allow ourselves to be terrified. We will build Kingston again, and, with God's help, will build it better.

"Time and again the capitals of Spanish-American countries have been destroyed, but never have the people despaired. We are not made of inferior stuff. We shall recover from this blow as we have recovered from all former ones."

On Thursday, January 17, American marines arrived in three warships from Guantanamo Bay, bringing the first relief supplies and doctors and helping to beef up security against the looting that had broken out. When the Americans landed a small detachment of armed marines ostensibly to guard the American Consulate and its records, Governor Swettenham ordered the withdrawal of the American forces insisting that the Jamaican Government was able to meet its security needs. A war of words erupted between the Governor and Rear-Admiral Davis who pulled his marines and sailed away with the supplies brought. A ship carrying 2,000 tons of beef and other supplies from President Roosevelt was also diverted to Cuba.

The British government ordered Swettenham to apologise, which he did and then resigned both from the governorship and the colonial civil service.

Most energetic governor

Swettenham's resignation made way for Sydney Olivier in May. Historian Clinton V. Black has described him as 'the most energetic governor the island had had since Sir John Peter Grant.' Olivier undertook the construction of the chief public buildings and public gardens on King Street, which in our times have been allowed to fall into blight as part of the general decay of downtown Kingston. Olivier also extended the railway, built new roads, and reduced taxes setting an example for Dr. Omar Davies. Olivier Road in Constant Spring is named after Sydney Olivier.

By sheer statistical probability, another major rumble of the size of 1907 could happen anytime now; but it does not have to be so destructive of life and property. The only other earthquake of similar intensity in Jamaica in the last 100 years was one registering eight on the Richter scale on March 1, 1957 with epicenter in Hanover, but with considerably less destruction. As Hurricane Gilbert changed construction practices for greater wind resistance, so the 1907 earthquake changed construction practices for greater earthquake resistance. In recent times the ODPEM has been established. And January 14 is now designated Earthquake Awareness Day. There will be another.