Researching my current novel in progress, The Captain's Governess, which is set in Jamaica, I came across this timely historical note for today, June 7. Here's the scoop of Port Royal's destruction one sunny summer day. Was it a judgment of God? Some thought so.
Here's how history records the destruction: On June 7, 1692, a massive earthquake devastated the town of Port Royal in Jamaica, killing thousands. The strong tremors, soil liquefaction, and a tsunami brought on by the earthquake combined to destroy the entire town.
The earthquake occurred without warning on the morning of Tuesday the 7th June at 11:15a. m., and continued for less than 15 minutes, during which time it destroyed every building or other substantial structure in the Island, a total of nearly 3000.
Port Royal was called the "wickedest city on earth"; a den of pirates, prostitutes, and slavers unlike any the world had ever known. ... It was a city so overrun with liquor, slavers, and prostitution that one in every four buildings was either a bar or a brothel.
Members of the Jamaica Council declared
"We are become ... an instance of God Almighty's severe judgment," therefore every future "seventh of June ... be kept and observed by all the inhabitants of this Island, as an anniversary day of fasting and humiliation, in hopes that acknowledging "manifold sins and wickednesses committed against his Divine Majesty, may "appease God's imminent wrath and prevent heavier judgments."
Eye-witness Rev. Emmanuel Heath, the Anglican rector for Port Royal, had finished his morning prayer service at St Paul's Church and was meeting with John White, president of the island's council, when the floor began "rowling and moving" and they "heard the church and tower fall." Rev. Heath wrote: "Port Royal was terribly destroyed by an earthquake and breaking in of the sea upon it. The destruction was sudden ... in four minutes multitudes were killed by the falling houses. I believe God I never in my life saw such a terror ... the earth opened and swallowed up people before my face ...The sea swallowed up the greatest part of that wretched sinful place ... They are so wicked, I fear God ... will utterly destroy all by this dreadful Judgment ... By this terrible judgment, God will make them reform their lives, for there was not a more ungodly people on the face of the earth." So goes the story of the destruction of Port Royal on June 7, 1692. Today the site is one of the most important underwater sites in the world with its rich repository of historic shipwrecks and the city of Port Royal.
Hope you find history like this as interesting as I do.
Blessings, Elva
Elva Cobb Martin is a mother and grandmother who lives in upstate South Carolina. She is the president of ACFW-SC Chapter. All her Christian romance novels have spent time on Amazon's 100 Bestseller's list for Women's Religious Fiction.
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