ITALIAN EARTHQUAKE.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 752, 26 February 1910, Page 12

ITALIAN EARTHQUAKE.

": .".;. ■. A JAPANESE- EEPOET.:.:, , ; ; ; ' "SEISMOLOdICAUiX ■ BAD"' STEUC- [ '..'-..■ ■■■■"'■•■-'.•■■■'■'TUEE'S.'-. .;,:;:; ; : ' !4Js soon as possible,.'after the great earthquake, which: destroyed Messina - a year ago the Japanese Government eent Wo competent, observers.', to -study- the earthquiike and iis, effects. . Professor F; Omori, .the well-known diiectxn , of; the Seismologdcal Institute 1 of Tokio,. was' charged . with the investigation of the earthquiiio l itself, Professor .T.' , Nakamaru, with its .effects from' an:architec-tural'-point. of. view.,: Professor ', Omori reached ithe stricken : district in; the middle - (if February, and remained there un-. til the end of April. : In his preliminary report-he.:gives-an interesting summary o£. the "principal ; conclusions a(j. which' he ■haa;arrived.-.;: ;-'/-■■•::''.- ;. ':■ ■■■':

,;.; Area of Destruction:Small.^':; ' y'While the movement was distinctly sen-: 'Bible at a distance of 120 miles or more from the place.of origin, the'urea within; which; the. destructive, effects ? of the earthguake were'manifested :was -com- : paratively; small;' The' city qf ; Catania; for instance, which 'is. only 50 miles.from; the. centre, : was .. v quito .' uninjured.: Tho' area- within which'.buildings were , en-, tirely 'destroyedor badly damaged-is; oval in is ■■ not .more .than 18 miles long ffoil' nortl,' to ebuth .and:-12 milea, wide.' '■Its cenlrelies beneath the. Straits , of Messina, 'ahd'n'earer-'to' Eeggi6.:than' to the Sicilian shore. The 'area of ...violent motion thus includes the whole; of []-. the Calabrian : coast adjoining the only a email district of Sicily close to Messina. ! The great loss of; life: was due to the existence of two largo'townii within this area,-' tho population of Mesiiina 'before the -earthquake 'haying been: about 150,000 and ; of Eeggio ab6nt'4o,ooo. : \lt is, estimated -that' about • 75,000 killed: in Messina' and: the ? suburbs,': and about 25,000' in Eeggio and other, Calabriari,towns' and villages;; •■- ■•'■■ i > ; , ;V -~■.'•;

Comparison .with Japanese- Earthquakes. .'Professor". Omori ; ,gives an comparison between- the disasters wrought by the' Messina .earthquake and. the great Japanase' earthquake of, 1891, in -. the Tince .of Mino-.;and'Owari.;: •• .Theiinten-: sity ;of the: 'ehock'' at iMessina, oa estimated from i the; ' overturaing, of ■bodies,; was slightly'., less ;thin : . in the of Nagoya;;.the- population ,of. which,-in 1891| was about 15,000.m0re than that of Mesr sina in'. 1908.'-!. At. Nagoya,.however, only; 190. lives were lost, so that the"number of persons killed in .Messina.was;about',43o; times as. great as in: Nagoya/ ■ In 'other ' •words,, "about- 998 out -of 1000 -of the number.skilled: in ; - Messina' ';must : ;be .'re-' garded; :,when. spoken -in comparifipri. 1 to .a,-Japanese, city, as-having fallen victims' to. the seismologically bad construction of the .houses,"..;. 'The.^.Mino-Owari' : earth-' quakd disturbed;an area:ten times larger;. and ; near'.';t"he.: centre. was ; four -■ or' five times■ stronger,- than , , the Messinaiearthquake; .but: the, number; of persons -'killed-. was■ only -7273.; ;-■' ;'■ !".;'.;• ..'■ -i ; ; j'-■] ; V..■ :--,I,\VJ Cauie 'of the i>;, ■ ■.-■ InProfessor. Omori's opinion the 'earth- 1 I quake was •! caused by. the':.sudden.i'orma-•tion-or extension .of . a''.nearly : vortical . crack in; nit; jeast-south-east;, and '• nitest-iiorth-west'direction. ; The Messina,'earthquake was ;not, liowover,/ an'.'.is-jlated' .event. -It -ia closely connected with;many other shocks', which have, devastated portions of 'central, and- southern Italy. ;.',l'ro'fossor Ompri'depicts .'in. ;'one. map the. A& structdve';areas'.of -the■ Messina"and : : 12 other,.'earthquakesr'since.;. 1638,'. and :•;lie shows 'that they lie along a ourved ; ,band, i .'extending, .from .'central "Italy,;. through :Calabria,-to,. the neighbourhood .of ;Cata-' nia; ,_ Thus'these, great.earthquakes-are not dietributed at .random, but ara ;fined:; to a /definite --line'"■■of- , .weakness , ; in Jthe .earth's rcrust;., Moreover,., the;-areas i.of .violent motion of-the different earthquakee.,;are.;almost entirely '-.dietuicti'.: and Professor ..Oindri ; therefore- concludes , ' that ;.the great, dieturbanoee are -not. repeated in,- .thei: same centres, ■ but occur .success siv'ely ia different .portions of the seismic, zone. : ;In.pther. words, ; ;■. Messina r and Eeggio,-havme-had their turn ini:1908; ,may be regarded,as .immune for time, , while . | the..pait3 : of: the .seismio: zone that have., not yet been-visited are prob,'ably .the'- most dangerous of. all in .south'-: ;ern-Italy.- V. .-.J,:' •'.'■■. ~~x~\/. ..v. :.'■■;.■ ""■;,- '-■'.: