The walk back toward QuickLube passes first through Plaza Independencia, the rebuilt heart of Mendoza. The current plaza dates to 1863, two years after the earthquake of March 20, 1861 that destroyed the colonial city almost entirely in under a minute. The tremor struck on Ash Wednesday, when most of the population was at mass or at home; the death toll ran into the thousands. Rather than rebuild on the ruins, the provincial government decided to relocate the urban centre entirely, and Plaza Independencia became the anchor of the new city. Today it is a broad, tree-shaded square with the city's coat of arms lit in neon at the centre and a dancing fountain that runs at night. The Peatonal Sarmiento, Mendoza's pedestrian street, runs off the western edge of the plaza and is a natural place to stop for coffee.