Julian West
(Low, urgent whisper to start, then normalizing volume)
Recording live. This is Julian West. The date is June 7th, 1692. I am standing on the sun-baked cobblestones of the Thames Street Wharf in Port Royal, Jamaica. The heat is absolute—a heavy, wet blanket that smells of drying tobacco, musk, raw sewage, and the sticky sweetness of molasses. They call this the Wickedest City on Earth. Looking around, I can see why. It is not yet noon, and the taverns are already spilling over. I see red-faced privateers counting Spanish pieces of eight on wine barrels, and I hear the clatter of dice in every alleyway. It is a city of gold built on a spit of sand.
(Pause, shifting tone)
Standing with me is Captain Humphrey Stirling, a merchant and occasional privateer who has been kind enough—or perhaps drunk enough—to grant me an audience. Captain, thank you for speaking with me.
Humphrey Stirling
(Gruff, gravelly voice, hints of a West Country accent)
A pleasure, Mister West, though you’re dressed like a man who’s never hauled a line in his life. You say you’re a chronicler? Well, chronicle this: there is no King in Port Royal. Only gold. And sugar. And the kill-devil rum.
Julian West
I’ve heard the clergy call this place a “sink of all filthiness.” Does that reputation bother you, Captain?
Humphrey Stirling
(Laughs, a dry, barking sound)
Let the preachers wail in their pulpits! They take our coin for the collection plate just the same. Look at this harbor, man. That ship there, the HMS Swan? She’s a beauty, isn’t she? And behind her, twenty more merchantmen loaded with ivory and spice. If this be sin, then sin pays handsomely. The Spanish fear us, the French envy us, and London? London begs for our sugar. We are the treasury of the West Indies!
Julian West
It is certainly... prosperous. But I’ve noticed the ground here. It feels... unsubstantial. We are on a sand spit, aren’t we? Barely a few feet above sea level?
Humphrey Stirling
Aye, ‘tis sand. Loose gravel. But it holds the weight of our brick mansions well enough. Look at the Exchange! Three stories of solid red brick. It has stood through hurricanes. A little sand won't—
(A sudden, sharp pause in the flow)
Julian West
Captain? Did you feel that?
Humphrey Stirling
(Confused)
A cannon, perhaps? From the fort?
Julian West
No... no, the ground is vibrating. It’s... it’s a low hum, like a growl coming from deep underground.
Humphrey Stirling
(Voice tightening)
That is no cannon. The birds... look at the gulls. They’ve scattered.
Julian West
It’s getting stronger. The cobblestones are rattling. Captain, hold onto the railing!
Humphrey Stirling
(Shouting)
Earthquake! It’s a tremor! Brace yourself, man!
Julian West
(Fast, panicked reporting)
The time is exactly 11:43 AM. The ground is pitching violently! It’s not just shaking, it’s rolling! Like waves on the ocean, but it’s the solid earth moving beneath us! The bell in St. Paul’s Church is ringing wildly on its own!
Humphrey Stirling
(Terrified)
My God! Look at the warehouses! The walls are splitting!
Julian West
It’s not stopping! It’s getting worse! Captain, look at the street! The sand! It’s bubbling!
Humphrey Stirling
What sort of devilry is this? The ground is turning to soup!
Julian West
It’s liquefaction! The water table is rising through the sand! The solid ground is becoming quicksand! Captain, look there—that woman! She’s sinking!
Humphrey Stirling
(Horrified scream)
She’s gone! The earth just opened its mouth and swallowed her whole! The pavement is gone, West! It’s just slurry! The buildings are sliding! The Exchange! It’s sinking straight down!
Julian West
(Breathless, shouting over chaos)
I am witnessing the destruction of Port Royal. The soil has lost all cohesion. People are buried up to their necks in the street—trapped in the sand as if it were concrete setting around them. The scream... the sound of the city dying is deafening. Stone grinding on stone. Wood snapping like kindling.
Humphrey Stirling
To the Fort! Run for Fort Charles! It’s on the bedrock! Move, man, move!
Julian West
We’re running toward the harbor! The air is thick with red dust. I can barely see. Wait... the water. Captain, the water in the harbor!
Humphrey Stirling
It’s gone! The sea has pulled back! The ships are sitting on the harbor floor!
Julian West
It’s a tsunami! The return wave is coming! We need to get high up!
Humphrey Stirling
There is no high ground! It’s all flat! Look! The HMS Swan!
Julian West
(Incredulous)
Impossible. The frigate... the wave is lifting it! The HMS Swan is being carried over the tops of the sunken houses! It’s crashing through the rooftops!
Humphrey Stirling
(Gasping)
Lord have mercy on our souls. The sea is coming to claim its debt.
Julian West
The water is hitting the town! A wall of grey water! Captain Stirling is gone—swept away! I’m climbing—I’m climbing the ruins of the bastion. The water is surging below me, churning with debris, furniture... and bodies. The Wickedest City on Earth is gone. In less than ten minutes, it has simply... vanished beneath the waves.
(Pause, heavy breathing)
This is Julian West, reporting from what remains of Port Royal. The ground is still trembling. The sea has swallowed two-thirds of the city. I have to go. The water is still rising. End transmission.
Backgrounder Notes
Here are the key facts and concepts from the transcript, accompanied by background details to provide historical and scientific context.
Port Royal ("The Wickedest City on Earth") Once the economic center of the English Americas, Port Royal gained its notoriety—and vast wealth—by serving as a safe harbor for privateers and pirates who spent their plundered Spanish riches on gambling, prostitution, and alcohol. At its height, one in every four buildings in the city was a tavern or a brothel.
Privateers Often confused with pirates, privateers were private citizens commanding armed ships who were authorized by their government (via "letters of marque") to attack and plunder enemy merchant vessels during wartime. In Port Royal, the line between legal privateering for the English Crown and illegal piracy was often blurred depending on the political climate.
Pieces of Eight The Spanish Dollar (real de a ocho) was a silver coin that served as the primary international currency of the late 17th century. Because British colonies had little currency of their own, these captured Spanish coins became the standard medium of exchange in Port Royal.
Kill-Devil Rum "Kill-devil" was the colloquial 17th-century term for early rum, a spirit distilled from fermented molasses (a byproduct of sugar production). It was known for its extremely high alcohol content and harsh, unrefined flavor, which was said to be strong enough to "kill the devil" inside a man.
Sand Spit (The Palisadoes) Port Royal was constructed on the Palisadoes, a thin, natural tombolo of sand extending off the coast of Jamaica. Because the city was built on loose, water-saturated sediment rather than bedrock, the ground was geologically unstable and prone to shifting.
Soil Liquefaction This is a geological phenomenon where saturated, unconsolidated soil loses strength and stiffness in response to applied stress, such as an earthquake, causing it to behave like a liquid. During the 1692 quake, the sandy soil of Port Royal turned into a slurry, causing heavy brick buildings to sink straight down and trapping victims as the ground re-solidified.
HMS Swan The survival of this English ship is a recorded historical fact; while the tsunami destroyed much of the fleet, the HMS Swan was lifted by the wave and carried over the tops of sunken houses. It eventually came to rest inland, allowing the crew to survive and the ship to serve as a refuge for survivors in the water.
Fort Charles As one of the oldest and most critical fortifications in Jamaica, Fort Charles was one of the few major structures in Port Royal to survive the earthquake partially intact. Its survival is attributed to the fact that it was built on a geological formation of limestone (bedrock), unlike the commercial district which sat on loose sand.
The Time (11:43 AM) The reporter’s citation of the specific time is supported by archeological evidence found centuries later. During underwater excavations in the 1960s, a pocket watch was recovered from the ruins of Port Royal with its hands stopped precisely at 11:43.
Sources
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jamaicaportroyal.comhttps://jamaicaportroyal.com/eyewitness.html
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jamaicaportroyal.comhttps://jamaicaportroyal.com/1692.html
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kingsportreasureislandpiratesroyal.comhttps://kingsportreasureislandpiratesroyal.com/Port_Royal_Jamaica/1692_Earthquake_Tsunami_7th_June_Seventh_Old_Port_Royal_Wickedest_Place_On_Earth_Tectonic_Plates_Caribbean.html
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tttpodcast.comhttps://www.tttpodcast.com/season-6/the-port-royal-earthquake-john-darlington-1692
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