EARTHQUAKE IN ITALY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 16282, 15 January 1915, Page 4

EARTHQUAKE IN ITALY

A TOWNSHIP DESTROYED. TERRIBLE LOSS OF LIFE. Press Association —By Telegraph—Copyright. LONDON, January 13. An earthquake- lasting 20 seconds occurred in Italy. It is reported that the town of Avezzano was destroyed, and that thousands perished. .Much damage is reported elsewhere. DAMAGE AT OTHKR TOWNS. ROME, January 13. The belfry of the Church of St. Andrea dell Frate was badly shaken, and is in danger of falling. The statue of St. Paul fell from the Church of San Giovanni Laterana. The inhabitants of MonteRotondo fled in panic. Two storeys of the tower of the Town Hall fell, damaging the lower portion. Two persons were killed and many injured. Several houses collapsed at Beroli, and there were a number of deaths. A TALE OF DESOLATION. DAMAGE IN ROME AND THE COUNTRY. AVEZZANO SURVIVORS NEARLY ALL INJURED. ROME, January 14. (Received Jan. 15, at 0.20 a.m.) The shock was felt from Ancona to Naples at 8 o'clock on Wednesday morning. Eighty buildings were damaged, in Rome. The colonnade of St. Peter's suffered considerably, and 150 windows were shattered in the Basilica. The shock was severely felt at the Vatican, and the Pope invited everybody to pray. The column of Marcus Aurelius was broken in various places, and the bas relief has been irreparably damaged. The effects in the provinces were severe, and reports of many deaths and wounded people come from all parts. The shock lasted for 70 seconds. At Naples one palace suffered severely. Avezanno is completely destroyed, and also all the buildings in the surrounding country. The bulk of the 800 survivors are uninjured. Many villages are in ruins. Relief has been sent. EXTENSIVE LOSS OF LIFE. TOWNS AND VILLAGES DEVASTATED. CAMPING IN THE OPEN- AIR. ROME, January 14. (Received Jan. 15, at 1.5 a.m.) Forty deaths occurred at Aquila and several hundred were injured. The dead' bodies and 150 injured have already been taken from the ruins at Isolo del Liri. Many houses collapsed at Sora. Twenty dead bodies were found at Hillalaco, and many victims are believed to be buried in the debris at the townships of Popoli and Pentima. The inhabitants of Tivoli are camping in the open air. An official report states that the earthquake was most disastrous in a district with a radius of 100 miles, whose centre is probably in the province of Potenea. Communication with Potenza has been severed, and it is feared that a grave disaster has occurred there. TENTH OF THE POPULATION SAVED. LONDON, January 14. (Received Jan. 14, at 8.20 p.m.) Reuter's correspondent states that only 800 persons were saved at Avezzano out of a population of 8000. Avezzano is a town of tho Abruzzi, in the province of Aquila, and ig 67 miles east of Rome. It had a line and wellpreserved castle, built in 1490 by Gentile Virginio Orsini. The town is on the main line from Rome to Castellammare Adriatico, and a branch line connects it with the railway from Naples to Rome.