EARTHQUAKE DISASTER

Taranaki Daily News, 25 July 1930, Page 9

EARTHQUAKE DISASTER

HUNDREDS DEAD IN SOUTH ITALY TOWNS AND' VILLAGES WRECKED APPALLING SCENES OF CONFUSION By Telegraph Press Assn. —'Copyright. Received 10:30 p.m. . Rome, July 24. A disastrous earthquake rocked southern Italy at 1 o clock m the morning. Many towns and villages were wrecked and the death-roll is heavy, being variously estimated in hundreds and in thousands. . The earthquake was accompanied by a terrific heat wave throughout southern Italy In Naples there were relatively few casualties, though the poorer buildings suffered badly. Refugees from Melfi tell tragic stories. The people behaved as though under the belief that the end of the world had come. In some cases women seemed to have died of terror as there Was no visible injury on the bodies. At Potenza the historic palace of Emperor Frederick. 11. collapsed and a number of persons were buried in the ruins.

There were five more violent shakes at Melfi in the afternoon, causing further loss of life. The town lies at the foot of the volcano Vultur, which has been extinct for thousands of years. A report, that the volcano is giving signs of activity has added to the general terror, especially as it remembered that Melfi wa« destroyed by a terrible earthquake in 1851, when thousands were killed. Many pathetic incidents include that of a man in Naples being struck dumb owing to the shock of seeing his aged mother and small daughter being crushed by a falling ceiling. There were terrible scenes at RionerG, where many children in an infant aeylum were injured. One woman endeavoured to protect" three children with her body, but all were killed. The earthquake was the worst in living memory at Naples, though not comparable with the Messina 'quake in December, 1908. Houses collapsed in all parte of the city. The streets were immediately alive with terrified people seeking open spaces or churches, where they implored the clergy to bring out miraculous images. The public fear was increased by several short circuits in the electric supply system plunging the city in darkness. Moreover, the streets were quickly filled with vehicles of every description, dashing wildly higher and thither, pedestrians being run over in the general' stampede. The details were slow in reaching Rome owing to the disruption of communications. Groups of aetoplanes have been ordered to explore and report the extent of the disaster to Signor Mussolini. As many of tho victims were peasants who were surprised in their sleep they were unable to escape from collapsing walls. ESTIMATE OF DEAD IMPOSSIBLE. A proper computation of the casualties is almost impossible until tho wreckage is cleared. The Duchess of Aosta was early amono- the rescue workers, setting out for Naples immediately with a Red Cross train In the hope that her presence would reassure the frightened populace. Tens of thousands of terror-stricken citizens of Naples gathered on the quaysides expecting an eruption from Vesuvius. The Pope also was active in preparing relief. He telegraphed an apostolic blessincr to the Bishop of Malfi. A British United Press correspondent, Mr. Thomas Morgan, telegraphing from Benevento, puts a much more serious complexion on the disaster than the official accounts would indicate. He states that 2000 dead are being extricated from the ruins of Villa Nova Albanese by soldiers who rushed to the. scene.

When he reached Benevento hundreds had already been buried and hundreds of others were awaiting interment, lying on stretchers covered with cloths from the ruins. The terribly mangled bodies of old and young were etill being extricated, crushed out of all recognition and disemboweled. These were being buried as fast as the bodies wore recovered. The injured were lying on stretchers awaiting lorries to take them to Avellino. One peasant at Villa Nova Albanese told Mr. Morgan; “There were 3000 in the town and only two of us can be found now. They are all under the ruins.” Villa Nova Del Battista, which is a suburb of Villa Nova Albanese, exists no more. The survivors are so demented that they cannot state to what family they belong. One septuagenarian was found wildly mourning the loss of six grown children. His only other son lives in the United States. ' ""•* • EVER-INCREASING DEATH ROLL. COMMUNICATIONS DESTROYED. London, July 23. The Daily Mail’s Naples correspondent reports an ever-increasing death roll, following a series of violent earthquakes, the latest occurring at . three o’clock in the afternoon. It is officially estimated that 276 are dead and 842 injured. In tho provinces of Naples, Foggia, Benevento, Avellino, Potenza, Camp, Obaso, Matora' and Bari details are unobtainable owing to the destruction of communications, but it is reported that Villenova and Montecalva, two towns in Avellino, were totally destroyed and that 300 were killed in Montecalva and 100 in Villanova. Several villages near Melfi are said to have been razed. The first shock at Naples lasted nearly a minute. The inhabitants rushed in their nightclothes into the narrow streets, where many were injured in the crush. When the electric light failed the scene was lit only 'by a fitful glare from Vesuvius, which-was active. A tidal wave swamped the beaches, tearing vessels from their moorings. Four °were killed and 22 injured by falling debris. Two long and violent explosions at the PozzuoTi sulphur springs, which are the safety valve of Vesuvius, preceded the ’quakes. The mud in the springs was boiling geyser-like. Professor Mallandra, living at the Vesuvius Observatory, reports that the disturbance was so violent that the seismograph needles jumped off the cards.