As the newspapers reported itThe 1926 Azores earthquake
3 days of original coverage, September 1, 1926 to September 4, 1926, one clipping a day from the papers of 1926. Newest last, the way readers lived it.
As printed: 12 Die, Scores Hurt as Quake Strikes Azores
ContextA quake hit the Portuguese island of Fayal in the mid-Atlantic at 9 o'clock Tuesday morning, flattening much of the port town of Horta, where about 20,000 people live. News from the Azores reaches the mainland only by cable, so this correspondent's account is the first detailed word of the dead and homeless.
ContextA powerful quake struck the Portuguese island of Fayal, in the mid-Atlantic, on Tuesday morning, wrecking the port town of Horta; yesterday's first cable dispatches spoke of 12 dead. This fuller account from Horta itself raises the count to 25 dead and at least 400 hurt, with martial law proclaimed and rain falling on a population sleeping in the open.
As printed: BUBONIC PLAGUE IS NOT SPREADING IN AZORES
ContextTuesday's earthquake wrecked the port town of Horta on the Portuguese island of Fayal, in the mid-Atlantic, killing dozens and leaving the population sleeping outdoors. Bubonic plague has since broken out among the ruins — four cases, two of them fatal — and the island's governor is asking Lisbon for full authority to keep order as slight shocks keep bringing down damaged walls.
