Case file · Folklore / legend
Port Royal swallowed by the sea
On 7 June 1692 an earthquake sank two-thirds of Port Royal, the buccaneer capital called 'the wickedest city on earth', into the harbour. Preachers called it God's judgement.
1692 CE · 17.94, -76.84 · status: official
The account
About 2,000 died at once and thousands more from disease. One survivor, Lewis Galdy, was said to have been swallowed by the ground and then thrown up into the sea by an aftershock; his tombstone tells the story. Legend says the church bells still toll under the water in storms.
The sceptical view
The town stood on loose sand that liquefied in the shaking. The underwater ruins are a well-studied archaeological site.