Charles Darwin was on hand in 1836 to witness the catastrophic effects of a series of earthquakes in Chile.
On March 4th, 1836, HMS Beagle arrived at Talcahuano Bay by the city of Concepcion in Chile. With that instinct that marks out the hero (and the scientist) Captain Robert Fitz-Roy had sailed there as soon as he felt a series of earth tremors disturb his ship, anchored at nearby Mocha. Naturalist Charles Darwin was on board, and left us his impressions of the impact of the earthquake.