Hi Folks,
While I was researching the history corner of the daily seismicity report fot
March 30, I came across this interesting account in "Report of the Twentieth
Meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science", by Robert
Mallet, London, 1851. The report concerns an event in Central Peru and an
unusual phenomena associated with it.
The earthquake occurred at:

3 30 12 35 0 1828 -12.100 -77.800 50 8.2 Central Peru

An interesting phenomena, which might have also been observed
in the Izmit Turkey quake of 1999 related to a ship at sea.
Some of the phenomena observed on board the ship in the harbor
of Callao were remarkable. On board the 'Volant' about half past
seven, a noise like distant thunder was heard, and then came a
shock, comparted to jolting over a rough road in a poorly constructed
cart or to the vessel striking upon rocks of sandbanks (a seaquake).
The water which was 25 fathoms deep , hissed and boiled as if red hot
iron had been thrown into it, and the surface was covered with
bubbles of gas of a sulphurous odour and quantities of dead fish.
The sea had been quite clear, but was now distrubed and muddy.
The ship swung to the extent of 14 inches on either side. On weighing
anchor, the chain cable on one of the anchors was found to be half
melted in a considerable part of its lenght, the links being
drawn out and also lengthways. The chain of the second anchor
was quite uninjured as were those of all other ships in the bay.
Note the similarity to the story of the fishermen in the sea
of Marmara - melted nets, fried fish, bubbling sea. You may recall
that that report was scoffed off by the experts (who weren't there)
as garbage. The reports are so similar, that it appears something
must be happening which is not yet explained. Or do you suppose
the fishermen in the Marmara Sea had been reading reports of the
1828 earthquake phenomena?

Could this be a case of sonoluminescence?