Notes

Abstract

THE most disastrous earthquake in Europe for many years was experienced in Calabria and the district of Messina, in Sicily, on Monday, December 28. The shock occurred at 5.20 a.m., and was followed by a great sea-wave, which appears to have destroyed Messina and Reggio, and also the greater part of the villages on each side of the Straits of Messina. Reports from Catanzaro state that the first intimation of the disturbance was a prolonged, thunderous noise followed by a vivid flash of lightning, and at the same time by a series of violent shocks which seemed interminable. Heavy torrential rain then fell, and continued to fall during Tuesday. According to reports from Times correspondents, so complete has been the destruction of Messina that it is almost impossible to obtain any connected account of the character of the earthquake. The centre of the disturbance seems to have been in the Straits, and it is greatly feared that the whole conformation of the neighbouring coast-line has been changed. On Tuesday, the officer of a torpedo-boat who left Messina for Reggio sent after a few hours the following message:—“I cannot find Reggio; if it exists, it is no longer where it was.” The lighthouses in the Straits have been rendered useless by the earthquake, and it is rumoured that the configuration of the bottom of the Straits has been altered greatly. It is estimated that the number of deaths will reach the terrible total of 100,000, for in Messina alone 50,000 lives are said to have been lost. It will be recalled that the province of Calabria was visited with like disasters in September, 1905, and October, 1907.