TO CORRESPONDENTS.

Kumara Times, Issue 1705, 17 March 1882, Page 2

TO CORRESPONDENTS.

"T. P."—The record of earthquakes in different parts of the world is a very long one ; we might fill a couple of columns simply with dates, places, and numbers of people killed. Five or six very destructive earthquakes occurred before the Christian era, and about 150 since the dawn of that time. The most memorable in European history is probably the great earthquake at Lisbon, on the Ist November, 1755. In about eight minutes most of the houses and 50,000 inhabitants of that city were swallowed up, and whole streets buried. Several other cities were overturned by the same earthquake, and in Morocco 12,000 Arabs perished. This earthquake extended 5000 miles, and was felt even in Scotland. On the 30th July, 1730, the whole kingdom of Chili, with St. Jago, was swallowed up. On the 26th March, 1812, the city of Caraccas, and upwards of thirty other towns, scattered over a space of 300 square miles, were destroyed, 80,000 persons killed, and thousands more wounded. The three most destructive to life were probably—One in Sicily which overturned 54 cities and towns, and 300 villages; of Catania and its 18,000 inhabitants, not a trace remained ; more than 100,000 lives were lost. Jeddo (or Yeddo) was ruined in 1703, when 200,000 persons perished. In the year 742, there was an awful earthquake in Syria, Palestine, and other parts of Asia; more than 500 towns were destroyed, and the loss of life surpassed all calculation. Although the particulars are very scant at present of the destruction caused by the earthquake in Costa Rica, there are many instances on record where the loss of life has been reckoned by tens of thousands.