An Overview of the Event:
- January 24, 1939, an earthquake hit in Chile, it started around 11:35pm, and was around a 7.8 magnitude (Gil, 776). Many buildings were destroyed, with many trapped inside them. It’s not known how many people died during the earthquake, some believe it to be around five thousand to thirty thousand, but it’s more likely that around eight thousand people died (Gil, 776). The Reconstruction and Assistantship Corporation and the Production Development Corporation were created by the state for the reconstruction effort (Gil, 776).
A brief analysis of why this event is significant for the author or text at hand:
- The 1939 Chilean Earthquake is significant to the book The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende because it showed that Esteban wasn’t always powerful, he had to rely on those he looked down on, but it is also important in that it shows the good hearts of the workers. They help Esteban even after everything he’s done. The earthquake is predicted by Clara and when it happens, she rushes to find Blanca. During the earthquake their house snaps in half, collapsing on Esteban. They had to wait till light before they could dig up the dead and those still alive. Esteban is saved by those who work for him, and he must rely on them to save his life. During the earthquake, Esteban’s bones are badly broken, and he must rely on Pedro Garcia, his foreman’s father, to set his bones.
Works Cited:
Gil, Magdalena. “Disasters as Critical Junctures: State Building and Industrialization in Chile after the Chillán Earthquake of 1939.” Latin American Research Review, vol. 57, no. 4, 2022, pp. 775–93. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/27401344.