Earthquake Horrors

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVI, Issue 291, 12 May 1914, Page 5

Earthquake Horrors

DESTRUCTIVE EARTHQUAKES IN ITALY. SEVERAL VILLAGES DESTROYED. MORE SERIOUS THAN MESSINA OUTBURST. ! HUNDREDS ENTOMBED IN DEBRIS. -SHORTAGE OF WATER. By Cable—.Press Associations-Copyright Rome, May VyC ProfessoV Paci, 0 f the Etna Observaidiy, says the intensity of the earth-, quake exceeded that of the Messina -one.

The latest statistics show that six villages have been 'razed and a' hall destroyed, 150 persons killed, and five huSdred injured. Thousands of. families' are homeless, ' •and many roads are impassable, owing to fißSures. The survivors are attack- j »ng tiie ruins with their hands, in their v eagerness to unearth their relatives.

Tremors have been felt in the vicinity of Mt. Etna during the past fortnight.

There wer? several shocks on Thursday, reaching a maximum on Friday evening. >

The shocks equalled the intensity of those which destroyed Messina. Many hundreds, are dead, and at least « thousand injured. At Catania there were no fatalities, but much damage was done.

At Acireale forty bodies have .been «%ered. Tfa the village of linera, which was completely destroyed, a hundred are still entombed in the debris.

The railway was tonf up for seven hundred yards at' Mangano. Poor hundred troops have 'keen sent to the scene.

King* Emanuel has given,. £4OOO for the relief of the sufferers by 'the earthquake. The Pope has also given a large" sum. Queen Elena has contributed medicines and clothing. Several fresh shocks have been experienced.

The railway has been repaired, but bread is still urgently needed. Many are suffering from thirst, as all the aqueducts in Sardati, Boggiardo and lustra have been broken. The disaster would have been greater but for the fact that the area affected by the earthquake was so circumscribed.

Warning shock's caused the populace •f Catania to abandon their dwellings, thus minimising the fatalities. Patients fled from the hospitals in a panic.

Rescue work at Linera and other villages on Friday night was rendered almost vain by the darkness, the destruction of telegraphic communication, and the lack offtools, but soldiers have since arrived and are working like Trojaaa. Sixty bodies had been recovered by Sunlay morning. Hundreds of homeless and f oodless surnvoig are thronging the military relief kitchens and many are camping in .the vineyards.

FURTHER DETAILS OF DAMAGE DONE. SCENES OF AGONISED SUFFERERS.

RAILWAY BRIDGE COLLAPSES. DEVOTION OF PRIESTS AND NUNS. MONASTERIES AND CONVENTS AS SHELTERING HAVENS. Received 11, 9.35 pjn. Rome, May 11. The earthquake was urjdulatory and vertical, and was severest between Satania and Mangand, northwards to Aeireale, although Linera, which was in the epi-eentre of the disturbance, was completely.destroyed. The relative fewness «f its victims was due to the majority of the inhabitants being in the fields.

Great damage is reported at Safhtarenerina, Bongiardino, Pisano, Passapomo. Trecastagn, ;ind Zafferana. Many aufferers have been conveyed to the ho - . pit a] s. Acireale, the zone most affected, was thickly populated, the land being most fertile, and the vines growing spontaneously. Dozens of the extricated bodies were fcgen at intervals along the roads, some and badly crushed, many mangled, and groaning piteously. Some of the victims who were buried alive eould be heard invoking aid until their voices grew fainter, and then Ceased. Beceived 11, 10 p.m. Rome, May 11. Reseuere found an old woman, terribly ujured, and clasping the band of h?r only son, who was dead and pinned in the debris.

Ma«y of the survivors were dumbfounded. They wept, shouted, and piavei, and hampeTed courageous men in attempting to organise rescue parties.

The «ainied fugitives, chiefly old people, women, and children, were hurriedly entraiied for Catania, but the trains were brought to a standstill owing to lamage to the tracks. One ,tunnel elsewhere collapsed. The railway bridge connecting Linera and SantaTerina was precipitated into an »bys«.

Several hospitals, including that at Berbati, weTe wrecked. Tro«je have been sent to reassure the inmates of a convict prison who, mad with despair, tried to wrench open t!|e barred windows and batter the doors of tfceir cells. Van? fugitives from cafes and cinemas

rushed to the shore and seized boats wherein they could pass the iiiglit. Meanwhile, in the stricken districts, was to be seen the characteristic spectacle of nuns hurrying to and fro, never shrinking from the most revolting Sights, soothing children, comforting wn. men, binding woundß and helping the dying in their last moments. Priests were busy hearing confessions and assisting the rescuers. Soldiers, firemen, police, private citizens, women, and even children,-were co-operating in every way possible, while the moi::i~ii-rios and convents opened their doors to orphans and others in

SCENE OF TERROR AND CONFUSION. OLD WOMAN'S TRAGIC END. GAVE HER LIFE FOR THE LITTLE ONES. i Received 11, 11.10 p.m. ' Rome, May 11. Earth rumblings had been' noticed at Catania for several days, gaining in frequency and strength. The aspect »f the volcano grew fiercer and more alarming. Suddenly a prolonged roar from Mount Etna was followed by the cutting off of the electric light. The electric power-houses shook and swayed, and a scene of terror and confusion followed.

Fugitives from the slopes of Mount Etna brought the first tidings of the catastrophe. Rescuers found an octogenarian woman, the sole survivor of a family of thirteen, at "Bongiardino. Notwithstanding the soldiers' advice, she insisted on re-entering her tottering home in search of relatives, and returned bearing a bahy still alive. She re-entered, saying that "It is worth risking by old life if I only rescue my grandchildren;." Then with a crash the falling masonry immediately entombed her.

A BRAVE WOMAN. PRESENCE-OP MIND AVERTS FURTHER TRAGEDY. m . SOME SAD SCENES DESCRIBED. Received 12, 12.20 a.m. Rome, May 11. , A young man who was severely injured at Santa Maria Vergine, clung to his wife's dead body, and could only be separated when he fainted from loss of blood. ,

A (lag-woman entrusted with the signalling on the railway near Acireale was severely injured by the fall of the signal box. Her two sons obeyed her injunctions and rushed along the metals shouting and waving flags, stopped two trains, and averted a disaster. , The old parish priest at Linera was seen sitting 'with bowed head outside the ruins of his domicile, having been bereft of his entire flock.

An aged grandfather, searching for his wife and two grandchildren, aged two and five years, found the three clinging together as if asleep, the children being held tightly in the grandmother's arms, but all of thcin wore dead.