SEVERE EARTHQUAKE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVII, Issue 14391, 9 June 1910, Page 5

SEVERE EARTHQUAKE.

"SHOCKS IN ITALY. I I SEVENTEEN TOWNS SHAKEN. A CATHEDRAL IN RUINS. By Telegraph.—Press Association.—Copyright.' v Rome, June 7. A severe earthquake : was experienced over a considerable, portion of - Southern Italy last night, the shocks being felt from coast to coast—from Naples on the one side to the Gulf of Manfredonia on the other provinces of Campania and Molise being badly shaken.. Reports received so far. indicate that seventeen towns and villages were damaged. The shocks, which were of an undulating character, occurred late at night, when the majority of people were in bed and asleep. * , '. The town of Avellino, to the westward of the Neapolitan Appenines, was near the centre of the disturbance, and over twenty lives-were lost there, great fissures torn in the roadways.. In Naples the shocks were severely felt, and there was a great panic in the town, many of the inhabitants of which are now encamped in open spaces where there is no fear of being killed by falling buildings. Much damage was done at Foggia, near the eastern coast. The beautiful cathedral of Bo vino, one of the finest in Southern Italy, has been badly damaged, a great portion of the building, which dates back many centuries, lying in ruins. The shocks were felt as far northward as Montreux, in Upper Rhone Valley, and they caused several avalanches oh the Dent du Midi. Immediately news .of the disaster was received King Emmanuel and Queen Helena left Rome by special . train for the : stricken district, while the Government despatched sanitary corps and several companies of engineers. . (Received June 9, 1 a.m.) Rome, June 8. Later news from the stricken districts shows that the death roll was less than was at first feared, totalling only 30. NOTABLE EARTHQUAKES. The occurrence of . an earthquake in ancient times was usually attributed to the punishment of sinful men by an offended deity, and down to this day something of the same cause is assigned to the phenomenon when a town is destroyed and lives lost. The Portuguese attributed the Lisbon catastrophe of 1763 to the harbouring of a few Protestants, and at the same time some English clergymen met in London and in solemn assembly ascribed the earthquake to Papistical practices in the realms of the "most' faithful and Christian" * monarch.* •' ■"-'■>""' The number of earthquakes attended with heavy loss of life and stupendous destruction of property from ancient times is so. great that there is not space enough to give a list of those recorded, but some of the most notable are given hereunder :— 1731—Pekin, China, 138.000 lives lost. Lisbon, Malaga, and Morocco," 62,000 fatali- ; ■.."'.■ ties. .'-. ■-.: i ,■" ' ; ;, : -'. ■.■■■.,.■■ 1797—Santate and Panama, 40.0C0 deaths. 1822—Aleppo destroyed and 20,000 perished". 1851—Melfl, ■ Southern Italy, 14,000 lives lost. 1856—Great Sunger, Moluccas, 3000 deaths. 1857—Montemurro, Oalabria, destroyed; 10,000 r deaths. * - ■•■'■.. . 1860—About 7000 lives lost at MendoM, Argentina. ' ' * * - .1868 Many towns in Peru and. Ecuador, South America, destroyed; 25,000 deaths. 1875—San Jose, Spain; 14.000 lives lost. 1881—Casamicciola, Italy, 2000 deaths. 1885—Srinagar, Kashmere; 3081 deaths reported. 1886—Tarawera eruption ; 101 lives' lost. ' 1891— Salvador ; heavy mortality. 1893—Kuschan, . Persia; 12,000 deaths. i Kamalshi, Japan, almost completely de- , stroyed ; 1000 lives, lost. About 20,000 persons drowned by a tidal wave. 1902—Mont Pelee eruption; St. Pierre destroyed in 10 minutes, whole population of 30,000 '■'■ perish) nff. —Severe shocks in Wellington ; public build- • ings damaged; no lives lost. Great damage and loss of life in Northern India, 19,000 natives being killed. " Severe shocks in Calabria, Southern Italy; 5000 killed. - 1906—San Francisco, over 1000 killed and enormous destruction of ■ property; Valparaiso, 500 lives lost. Kingston, Jamaica; 900 .killed. Shocks in Calabria and Sicilv; 186 killed. 1909—Messina ; from 50,000 »to 100,000 killed. FURTHER SHOCKS LIKELY'. ■ With reference to the earthquakes in Italy, Mr. Stevenson states that the period from now until the- 11th',inst. is one of earthquake intensity, and that further shocks are likely to take place in some of the stricken "districts during the' next few days. The indications : point to the northern hemisphere being the seat of any further manifestations of seismic activity at present, so that there is little to fear so far as New Zealand" is concerned, though slight tremors may pecur in the Whakatane district. Another period will probably occur during the first week of July, when the other hemisphere may again be shaken.