ITALIAN EARTHQUAKE.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LVI, Issue LVI, 29 January 1909, Page 5

ITALIAN EARTHQUAKE.

FURTHER PARTICULARS.

Fpeh. press association. j (Received January 29, 9.20 a.m.)

FREMANTLE, January 29

Newspaper files received by the mail steamer show that the people in the various Italian towns visited by the earthquake were asleep at the time the shock came, without warning, a little after 5 in the morning- It lasted over 30 seconds, and literally swung buildings out of the perpendicular and threw them with a crash into a heap of ruins. Then came fires, and the explosions of gasometers, and finally a huge tidal wave of liquid mud, which swept over the quays and engulfed the lowlying portions of towns, drowning the miserable beings pinned beneath ruined buildings.

This is why no satisfactory estimate of the probable number of deaths has yet been made. Here is a typical story told by a \ woman who reached Palermo from Messina: — "It was a hellish scene. We were still sleeping when we were suddenly awakened by a strange noise, by the windows all rattling, and by doors being burst open with a bang. Some of us were thrown out of bed by the violence of the shock. A deluge of rain was falling, and it was very dark. x 'Terremoto, terremoto!' we shrieked, all shivering with terror. Scarcely half clothed I fled with my brother and sister, but lost them in the street. Other people were running to and fro crying desperately, shouting for help and invoking the Madonna and the saints. All around us were crumbling walls, crashing windows, and splintering woodwork. The water came up to our knees, and near the sea front all the steamers were flooded with muddy water. The waves roared terribly and battered everything with incredible violence."