THE EARTHQUAKE IN TURKEY.

Lyttelton Times, Volume V, Issue 285, 25 July 1855, Page 4

THE EARTHQUAKE IN TURKEY.

The accounts from Broussa are terrible. Such a long-con tin tied convulsion of nature has hardly been heard of in the history of the world. The earthquake had lasted five days, and shocks were of constant occurrence when the last news left. The great shock of the 28th of February had destroyed a part of the town, and killed or maimed nearly 300 of the inhabitants. Although the shocks were only felt at Constantinople during two days, they lasted at Broussa durin™ four succeeding days, not without causing serious damage to the already shaken houses. The commencement of the convulsion was preceded by torrents of rain, which lasted more than 24 hours, accompanied by ahigh wind and thunder. At three o'clock the sky became suddenly overcast—a strong smell of sulphur was perceived, and the first shock took place, which, in less than a minute, overthrew mosques, houses, and bazaars, in one vast ruin. Nearly early mosques have been so much injured that their speedy fall is expected, while not one in the whole city has escaped some damage. The khans or large buildings, which served either as inns or buildings, for transacting business are most injured, and five of them were destroyed, crushing scores of their unfortunate inmates. The bazaars, with their heavy arches, are flat on the ground. The ancient mosque of Davoullon-Monastir, a Greek ecclesiastical edifice, said to be 1,200 years old, is unhappily destroyed. Another mosque, the Oulon-Djarmi a fine building 600 years old, is also a mass of ruins. It was the chief ornament of the city, and the most splendid religious edifice in tlie days when Broussa was the capital of theyoun^ and growing Ottoman Empire. Materialists may, however, still more regret the great destruction which has fallen on the silk factories, of which scarcely one has escaped without damage, while the number of women who have lost their lives by the fall has been very lari?e. Large masses of rocks were detached "from their beds, and came crashing down the sides of Olympus into the neighbourhood of the town. In one place several houses were crushed by one of these avalanches. The old wall and fort were shaken to the ground, and in their fall buried ten or twelve houses and the factory of Hudji Auastasi, a respectable Greek

manufacturer, who also lost his life. As the shocks continued during; the night, the whole population at once quitted the town, and is now encamped in the neighbourhood, the well-off in tents, the poor under the open heaven, rather preferring to bear the chill nights of March than to live in hourly dread of destruction within the circuit of their ill-fated city. The shocks which have since taken place have thrown down many buildings which were previously injured.