Or Natural Phenomenon? Divine punishment? Scientific thinking and religious thinking in Chile earthquake around 1822

Abstract

This article analyses the clash between scientific and religious mentalities, focusing on the explanation for the earthquake of November 19, 1822 which affected the provinces of Valparaiso and Santiago. The text studies both religious practices that appeased divine rage as a cause of the earthquake and rationalistic intellectual reasoning attributing the catastrophe to natural phenomena as well. The article reconstructs public opinion and the intellectual debate in the voice of authors such as Bernardo de Vera y Pintado, Camilo Henriquez and Friar Tadeo Silva.