EARTHQUAKES IN ITALY.

King Country Chronicle, Volume IX, Issue 737, 16 January 1915, Page 5

EARTHQUAKES IN ITALY.

A TOWN.DESTROYED; London, Wednesday. An earthquake lasting twenty seconds is reported from Italy. It is stated that the town of Avezzao has been'destroyed, and thousands of people have perished in the town and the villages in its neighbourhood. Much damage has been caused elsewhere.

FELT AT ROME. FAMOUS CHURCHES INJURED. Rome, Wednesday. The belfry of the Church of St. Andrea Delia Frate, in Rome, was badly shaken, and is in danger of falling. The statue of St. Paul fell from the famous church of San Giovanni Laterano. The inhabitants of the town of Monte Rotondo, near Rome, were seized with panic*. Two storeys of the' tower of the Town Hall fell, damaging the lower portion of the building. Two people were killed and many injured. Several houses collapsed at Veroli, where there were a number of fatalities. APPALLING DEATH ROLL. WORSE THAN MESSINA. London, Thursday. Reuter's agent at Roma says it is estimated that twelve thousand people were killed and twenty thousand injured ia the earthquake. Gelano Pescina was partially destroyed. Many dead were buried under the ruins.

Fifty-seven buildings were damaged in Rome. A tidp.l waive was experienced near Naples. A second shock of earthquake was felt at Rome on Thursday morning, and the innabitanta spent the night in the open air. Rcme, Thursday. It is bel'eved that there are only one hundred survivors from Avezzano. These people were discovered campad round fires iri the principal square, and seemed to have lost their senses. They Were incapable of aiding the other victims, and thus passed the night. One of the survivors states that the destruction eclipses that of Messina. The town is one immense cemetery. Under the ruins nf a college a young girl's voice was heard crying out: "There are 140 people still alive. Bring help, quickly." Groans and crius are heard everywhere from the ruins. Ninety-five out of a hundred carabiniers composing the garrison were killed. Twenty other towns have been destroyed.

THE STRICKEN AREA. EIGHTEEN TOWNS AFFECTED. WORK OF RESCUE. SOLDIERS WORKING FEVERISHLY. Received Friday, 7.30 p.m. Rome, Friday. The stricken area is greater than was at first believed. Eighteen small towns in the neighbourhood of Lake Fusciadno, which was the centre round which the disturbance raged, were damaged. It is estimated! that twenty thousand were killed in this region, and forty thousand injured. A faulty system of house construction by dry building Was the chief cause of the death roll. The only ho7se standing at Avezzano had concrete foundations. Soldiers are feverishly working to rescue 140 school girls. 'i's?eir cries have ceased, but it is hoped many are alive. The King is supervising the work. The town presents a frightful appearance. The great blocks of stone piled on one another renders rescue difficult. Two hundred dead and 160 injured have been extricated.

SALERNO MOUNTAIN SPLIT.

•SHOCKS AT MOUNT BIiANC,

~ Received this day, 12.40 a.m. Rome, Friday

A section of the mountain near Salerno, three thousand feet long and five hundred feet wide, split off and crashed down the valley destroying everything in its path. There were many casualties. Every hotel at Fiuggi, near Rome, collapsed or was damaged. The rivers in the vicinity ran black for two hours after t he shock. Geneva, Friday. Severe earthquake shocks at Mount Blanc caused many avalanches. Several villages are isolated. Slight shocks have been felt in the Tyrol. The Pope visited the injured in the Santa Maria Hospital. The great marble cross on the Basilicci at St. Paul's was thrown in the roadway. The glass roof fell in the Chamber or' Deputies, burying the Ministers' tables in piles of wreckage.