BIG EARTHQUAKE DISASTER

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2359, 15 January 1915, Page 6

BIG EARTHQUAKE DISASTER

» J DREADFUL VISITATION IN ITALY DEATH ROLL HEAVY ENORMOUS DAMAGE j i .■ . i By Telegraph.—Press Afieooiation—Conrrteht ( London, January 13. ' 1 An earthquake lasting twenty seconds* ' occurred in Italy. It is reported that Avezzano (in the province of Aquila, Southern Italy) has been destroyed and that thousands have perished. Much damage waß done elsewhere. LATER DETAILS. PANIC-STRICKEN INHABITANTS. ' Rome, January 14. The belfry of the Church of St. Andrea Delle Frate was badly shaken, and ; is in danger of falling. | A staute of St. Paul fell from the Church San _ Giovanni in Latermo. The inhabitants of Monterotonda' became panic-stricken. Two stories of the tower of the Town Hall fell, damaging the lower portion, lwo persons were killed and many injured. Several houses collapsed at Veroli, where there was a number of fatalities.; (R-ec. January 14, 8.20 p.m.) London) January > 14. Reuter's correspondent states that only eight hundred' were saved at Avezzano, out of a population of eight thou--1 sand. LATEST ACCOUNTS. HISTORIC BUILDINGS DAMAGED IN ROME. (Rec. January 15, 0.20. a.m.) 1 Rome, January 14. The shock was felt from Ancona to Naples at 8 o'clock on Wednesday morning. Eighty buildings were damaged. At Rome, the colonnade of ; St. Peter's suffered considerably, 150 windows were shattered at the Basilica, and severely felt at the Vatican. The Pope invited everybody to pray. ; The column of Marcus Aurelius was broken at various places, and the Bas Relief irreparably damaged. The effects of the shock in the provinces were severe.. Reports state i that there were many deaths, and people were wounded in all parts of the zone of tbe shock, which lasted for seventy seconds. At Naples,' one palace suffered severely. Avezzano has been completely destroyed, and also all the buildings in i the surrounding country. The bulk of the eight hundred •, survivors are injured, and many villages are in ruins. Relief has been Bent. Forty deaths are reported from ■ Aquila, and several hundred injured. Ten dead and 150 injured have been already taken,from the ruins of Isola Dclliri. Many, houses collapsed at Sora. Twenty dead were found at Villa Laco, many victims are believed to be buried in the debris of the t-ownships-of Popoli and Pentima. The inhabitants of Tivoli are camping in tho open air. Tho official report states that . tho earthquake was most disastrous in a district with a radius of one hundred milos from a centre probably situated in the province of Potenza. Communication with Potenza is severed; and it is feared tbat there has been a grave disaster there.