SEVERE EARTHQUAKE.

Auckland Star, Volume XXX, Issue 210, 5 September 1899, Page 8

SEVERE EARTHQUAKE.

EOME SHAKEN TO HER FOUNDA-

TIONS.

GKEAT DAMAGE TO MANY,

VILLAGES.

NEW YORK, July 19.

A "Sun" cable from Rome says: A severe earthquake shock was felt here this afternoon. Buildings werp swayed during- the disturbance, and several churches were damaged. Many persons were injured by the debris. Pope Leo, who was asleep in his apartments, was awakened by the shock and hurried in alarm to the Vatican gardens. A violent eruption from Mount Aetna occurred simultaneously with the shock here.

The actual shock lasted for twelve seconds, but instruments marked telluric tremblings from 2.19 to 2.45 o'clock in the afternoon. Fortunately the shock was only undulatory, and the damage was small, considering its violence. Personal injuries were few and slight. The panic was extreme, especially in the poorer quarters, for the inhabitants rushed in terror into the streets, screaming and praying. The prisoners in the principal gaol, partly from fear and partly with the idea of availing themselves of the opportunity, threatened to mutiny, and the guards had to be hastily re-en-forced. Nuns in some of the convents fled to the streets in scanty toilets. There was a distressing panic in hospitals and lunatic asylums. Angry rumblings accompanying the shock added to the terror, while ringing bells, cracking windows, moving doors and furniture and swaying telegraph wires heightened the panic. The animals were exceedingly frightened. A heavy rain followed the shock.

Thousands of persons are preparing to pass the night in the streets, being afraid to re-enter their houses. Reports from surrounding districts show that the damage was more serious than in the city, especially in villages among the Albanian hills. The Papal summer residence at Castle Gandolfo was seriously damaged. Elsewhere the walls of several churches and houses were riven. Few buildings fell. The Prince's Palace at Villa Torlonia was so damaged that the family were obliged to quit it. The gravest damage, however, was done at Frascati. Detailsaa c few, but it seems that nearly all the houses and public buildings were damaged. Prime Minister Pelloux started this evening to ascertain the extent of the disaster. Troops have been ordered from here to assist the people, who axe all living out of doors.

Telegrams from Porto Banzio, Fiumicino, and Civita Vecchia describes the sea as rolling- back upon itself. The shock was attributed to the same causes which disturbed Mount Aetna, which continues to be violently agitated. Lava streams are threatening1 the villages of Trecastagni. Several blocks of stone fell from the Coliseum. The columns of the forum rocked, but remained intact. A small fissure appeared in the. recently discovered Lapis Niger, but at quickly re-closed. Beyond the foregoing antiquities were not damaged, despite sensational reports to the contrary. The Pope was asleep in his villa in fhe Vatican gardens. He was awakened by the first shock, and hurried «nta the garden greatly alarmed. A dispatch from Castello, Sicily, says that at eight o'clock this morning, after a loud, subterranean rumbling, an enormoxis column of smoke shot up from the centre of Mount Etna, followed by a pillar of sand.