Naming traditions in most of Hispanic America differ somewhat from the First-Middle-Last name format used most commonly in the United States. So, when Hispanic immigrants arrive in the U.S., they may have to make a choice: will they alter their names to fit the system used in their new country? Read More
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Share your thoughts about the survey!Please limit submissions to 150 words or fewer. Your submission may be featured in an upcoming newsletter or shared on social media; please note in your email if you do not want your story to be shared. Published responses may be edited for clarity and length.
31%, Yes, at least one of my ancestors or relatives was affected by an earthquake.
6%, Yes, at least one of my ancestors or relatives experienced significant property loss due to an earthquake.
1%, Yes, at least one of my ancestors or relatives suffered an injury due to an earthquake.
1%, Yes, at least one of my ancestors or relatives died due to an earthquake.
63%, I have experienced an earthquake.
46%, No, I am not aware of any ancestors or relatives being affected by an earthquake.
Readers Respond
Elaine Abrams, Winthrop, Massachusetts: I was living in Kobe, Japan, asleep on my futon when, early on January 17, 1995, I felt the earth shake. There was no light, so I crawled down the stairs and outside. I saw that my home, along with many others, had been destroyed. Over the following days, fires burned, and makeshift coffins were nailed together on the streets. People hugged with tears of joy when meeting someone who had survived. I searched for my friends among rows of bodies lining auditorium floors. For the next month there was no running water or electricity in the city. I scooped water from puddles and boiled it on a portable gas range. Food was distributed in the streets. I stood in line for an hour for one apple. The Kobe-Hanshin earthquake claimed 6,400 souls. I was one of the fortunate, a survivor. But 29 years later I am still startled when I feel a slight trembling from a passing bus or truck.
Nancy Magnuson, Baltimore Maryland:Terremoto! My 7th-great-grandmother Maria de Sousa and five of her family died in a catastrophic earthquake on the Azores Island of São Jorge overnight July 9–10, 1757. More than 1,000 residents of the island's population of 5,000 perished in the earthquake. According to Father João Machado Teixeira, vicar of Santa Catarina Church, the earthquake “razed and demolished the stone walls of the fields, the cliffs, the fountains, and not a single house remained that had not rotated on its foundation, and a large part of its residents dead underneath these same ruins.” Thankfully, my 6th-great-grandparents Ana de Jesus and Antonio Silveira de Lemos survived. Ana was seven months pregnant with her first child at the time.
Joy Metcalf, Northport, Maine: In the early 1990s, I was a technical support supervisor for AT&T's switching stations. When a massive earthquake brought down the Sherman Oaks facility, I was dispatched to bring it back into service. While I was working, huge aftershocks hit the facility. Massive cable racks had been lifted up and smashed by the quake, causing some to bend sideways. During the aftershocks, I clung to those racks to keep my footing.
Glenn R. Trezza, Boston Massachusetts: The Basilicata Earthquake of December 16, 1857, caused massive destruction to the hilltop town of Padula, Salerno, Campania, Italy, whose citizens at the time included my nine-year-old paternal great-grandfather, Giuseppe Trezza. While Giuseppe and his parents and siblings all survived, his father’s aunt, Giacoma Gaetana Trezza, the widow Di Muria, and all three of her unmarried daughters (Rosa, Giuseppa, and Teresa Di Muria) perished together when their home collapsed. In total, almost 40 citizens of the town lost their lives within minutes of each other.
Lamar County, seated in Paris, is located in northeastern Texas. The website for Lamar County features a database of nearly 116,000 burial records from more than 200 cemeteries. Records can be searched by first and/or last name. To browse the records click the index tab, select a letter from the alphabetical list and click the name you wish to view. The detailed records include birth, death, and marriage dates; the name of the cemetery; information on the source of the record; and notes. The notes field may contain a transcription of the individual's obituary. Some records also include links to tombstone images. Search Now
Do you have an ancestor who went to sea? The Life at Sea collection from AM Explorer brings together journals, memoirs, ships’ logs, court records, and other primary documents from three centuries of Anglo-American maritime history. This resource is available to American Ancestors members through our partnership with AM Explorer. Learn More About External Databases
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