Raftsman's journal. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1854-1948, 1867-04-17
Terrific Earthquake at Mytelene.

Terrific Earthquake at Mytelene.
A correspondent of the Levant Herald, |
gives the following account OF the destruc-
ton of Mytelene By an earthquake /
On Thursday, March 9th, the weather had
been close and unwholesomey hot but, as
this is generally the case with the south
wind, which had been blowing fer some
time. nothing was tholght of it, least Of all
was there any fear of what f llowed. Though
volcanic, the island had not during the pres
ent generation been visited by an earthquake.
About p. m, a sharp shock, lasting some
fifteen or eighteen seconds, ,vibrated through
out the town, and before the fact was well
realized, was followed by a second, longer
and much more violent one. happened at
the moment to be down at the pier OF the
Austrian LLOYD agency, and nearly halt a
minute before the shock was felt on shore,
saw the sea heave and foam out IN the port
as if submarine explosion had taken place
Little time, however, was left for surprise.
In much less time than | take to write IT.
the double thrill quivered through the town,
aud reeling like drunken men, whole blocks
of solid stone houses collapsed as Il they
had been card houses.
Up in the town entire streets similarly
crumbled burying their inhabitants by hun
dreds in the auins The fine old c-stle, the
| cathedral, the Governor koank, the prison,
| the mosques, and, [ believe, all the consular
residences, more or less yielded to the vlo-
! lence of the shock, and are, for the most
part, mere heaps of ruins. The very solid
/ ity with which the town was built has ag-
gravated the disastrous effects OF the caiam-
! i,y hundred fold, both as regards the loss OF
Of and destruction OF property. The most
complete ruin has fallen upon the lower part
| of the town. where the earth literally OPEN
ed and swallowed a broad belt of buildings
right up from the sea 10 the slope Inland
At this point permanent subsldence OF the
| ground has taken place, and the sea has ac-
cordingly encroached far into what, on
Thursday afternoon, was one OF the busiest
parts of Mytelene. In fact, to sum up the
disaster, more than half of our beautiful
town-the prettiest and most lively, per-
| haps, of all the Levant is a desert OF ruins.
The worst part of the calamity Is, of course,
the loss of life. As yet we can only guess
at the extent Of this but it is thought that
from 500 to 900 have persisted, while as
many more have been MANNED and wounded
in every way Up till to-day I20 bodies
have, [ hear, been dug out Of the safer
ruins bus how many more may be buried
under others which are too dangerous to be
| approached can only be surmised. Such OF
the houses as are still standing nave all Deen
abandoned, and the whole surviving popu-
lation is now scattered over the hill-sides
and among the gardens outside of the town
"a few of them under such covers as they
have been able to improvise, and the rest
bivouacking without shelter of any kind.
Any attempt to describe the scene would be
useless. Heart-rending grief, panic, and
confusion meet the eye on every side. Al
ready the want of provisions is aggravating
the distress, and only speedy supply from
Smyrna or the capital can avert great loss of
life. But not the town of Mytelene alone
has suffered from the great calamity it has
scattered ruin and death throughout the
whole northern part of the island. Hardly
a village has escaped, and not merely prop
erty but life has been destroyed and nearly
the whole of Molivo has been all but entire
ly demolished, and several hundreds of its
six or seven thousand inhabitants have, it
is said, perished in the ruins. 1t is, in fact,
no exaggeratiOn to say that half the island
has been laid waste, with sacrifice of hu-
man life that may bereckoned by thousands
No such disaster has'ever befallen Mytelene.