THE EARTHQUAKE IN SICILY.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume VII, Issue 336, 26 September 1879, Page 9

THE EARTHQUAKE IN SICILY.

... _ Rome, June 25th. mount Etna is a most disastrous neighbour to the people who live in its vicinity. Although they are frequently driven from their homes ty eruptions, their cities being wholly destroyed, as soon as the danger is past, and even before the lava is cool, they return to the same spots nnd begin again to rebuild their cities and to parcel out their lands once more. Scarcely has the late eruption ceased to be dangerous Ihan the misery of the people on the slopes of Etna is greatly increased by an earthquake. The particulars of this disaster are furnished by a Dr. Vigo, who writes from Acireale, on the coast of Sicily and on the lower slopes of Etna. He paints the picture in the darkest colors. " Poor district of Acireale," he writes, " upon its lands the lava still smokes and the corpses of [the massacred of] Calatabiano are still warm !"'

On the 17th June, a few minutes after 8 in the morning, this district was stricken by another sadder and more terrible disaster. An earthquake, which shook the land in every direction, brought death to several of the citizens, overthrew hundreds of houses, seriously damaged an extended tract of country, beautiful in its cultivation and rich in its productions, and produced fear and terror in the hearts of the people. The terrible shock wa9 keenly felt from Linguaglossa as far as Catania, a distance of twenty miles as the crow flies. The scene of destruction and death occurred over a space of five miles in length and over one in breadth. The spectacle presented along the surface of this tongue of land, lying between the eastern part of Etna and the sea, is indescribable ; and the damage is incalculable. Eight populous villages— Pisano, Bongiardo, San Michele, Santa Venerina, Linera snperwre, Linera inferiore, Guardia, and Santa Tecla— were comprised in this frightful disaster. In the city of Acireale, although no damage is recorded, the earthquake was sensibly felt. What terror strikes the minds of people at such moments may be more easily imagined than described, but no imagination can surpass the reality. The schools and public offices were closed; the people poured forth like a river into the streets and the piazzas, and gathered in groups, talking of the sensations they felt, and the fears they nounshed. In the public square stood the Senator Trombetto, holding in his hand a sheet of paper w hich he gave to be read to those who asked it. It was a telegram relating the disasters which had occurred. Many were afraid to look at it, and several of those who read hesitated to repeat its contents to their neighbours, especially to those who came from the district where the earthquake occurred. That telegram told of the destruction of human life, of the groans of the dying, of the cries of the wounded, and the fright of the survivors, and of the grief of those whose houses and property were destroyed. A slight shock of earthquake on the evening of the 16th first warned the inhabitants of their danger. They watched all the night, keeping their houses open that they might escape at a moment's notice, and not going to bed. When morning came they left their homes and went into the fields. Twelve hours after the first shock came a second and stronger one, and this did all the mischief. Four large churches were thrown down ; an extraordinary number of country residences, and many houses— their number is not yet known fell to the ground, burying beneath their ruins several persons who had neglected to escape. Ten or twelve were killed, and many severely wounded. One large village, Bongiardo, is wholly destroyed and is now only a heap of ruins. In other parts houses have disappeared, and those which remain are tottering, broken and damaged to such a degree that they are quite uninhabitable. The ground" is full of crevices or openings ; the boundary walls of fields and gardens have been carried away from their places, and in some instances no traces of the foundations are left. The earthquake was preceded by a frightful hurricane accompanied by lightning. The sky became obscuied by a cloud of ashes or dust ; a strange and deafening sound, frightful to listen to, was heard in the air ; and, in a few seconds, trees and houses seemed to rise up into the air and then sink down again and disappear, or twist and break in a wild way. In fact, the phenomena attending this earthquake are peculiar as its effects are saddening. Hundreds of families are left without house or home ; landmarks are destroyed, and the misery of the inhabitants is general. The authorities in the neighbourhood are making every effort to assist the sufferers, and subscriptions are being taken up all over the country. — Pilot.