The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-04-05
The LEVANI.

TerrihO Earthquake at MyteIene-Over
Thousand Lives sLOst-HeartrendinE
0fVtetene t1farch0) Correspondent Levant Herald
On Thursday, the 9Th, the weather had been
close and unwholesomely hot; but as this is
generally the case with the south wind which
tbo Iau oeen 3lowlng ior some time, nothing was
shoughi Oh IT, least of all was there any fear of
Mhat followed. Though volcanic as Is proved
py tne numerous hot springs, the island has not
1mlng tne present generation been visited
py earthquake 1t was now, however,
TO have terrible experience of the phenome.
non About p. NJ. sharp shock, lasting some
htteen or eighteen seconds, vIbrated through
out the town, and before the fact was well real.
zed was followed by second, longer, and much
more violent one. happened at the moment
10 De down on the pier of the Austrian Lloyd's
agency, and nearly half minute before the
snock was felt on shore saw the sea heave ana
1oam out IN the port as If q submarine explosion
had taken place. Little time, however, was
lett Tor surprise. In much less time than take
TO write 1t, the double thrill quivered through
the town, and reeling like drunken men, whole
blocks OF solid stone houses collapsed as If tney
had been cardhouses. The offices OF the
agency and nearly all the adjoining buildings
including the Custom House, the Lighthouse
Office, and the large oil mill, thus fell. Up in
the town entire streets similarly crumbled
ourylng their inhabitants by hundreds in the
ruins. The fine old castle, the cathedral the
Governors konak the prison, the mosques, and
l 0elleye, all the consular residences, more or
less yielded to the violence of the shock aud are
tor the most part mere heaps of ruins. The
very soldity with which the town was built has
aggravated the disastrous effects of the calamity
hundredfold, both as regards the loss OF and
destruction of property. The most CCmDlete
rum mas iallen upon the lower part of the wn,
where the earth literally opened and swallowed
btoad belt of building right up from the sea
TO the slope inland. AT this point perma
nent subsldence OF the ground has taken place,
ana the sea has accordingly encroached far into
what on Thursday afternoon was one OF the
busiest parts OF Myteene. In fact, to sum up
the disaster, more than half of our beautiful
toWn-the prettiest and most lively perhaps Of
all the Levant-is desert of ruins. Tne 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 800 to 1000
have perished, while as many more have been
manned and wounded in every way. Up till
to-day l20 bodies have, hear, been dug out
OF the safer ruins; but how many may be
buried under Others which are too dangerous to
De approached can only be surmlsed. Such of
the houses as are still standing have all been
abandoned, and the whole surviving population
Is now scattered over the hill.sides and among
the gardens outside the town-a few OF them
under such covers as they have been able to
lmprovise, and the rest bivOuaCklng without
shelter OF any kind. Any attempt To describe
the scene would be useless Heart-rending grlet,
panic, and confusion meet the eye on every side.
Already the want of provisions is aggravating
the distress, and only q speedy supply from
smyrna or the capital can avert great addl-
honal loss of life. One of the Austrian Lloyd's
steamers, and French gunboat from Smyrna,
have landed a quantity OF biscuit and some
other stores, but in all not perhaps more than
days food for the place. 1t Is earnestly to
be hoped that the Porte will at once send
down tents, biscuits, and whatever other stores
can be quickest got together. But not the tow
OF Mytelene alone has suffered from this great
calamity; it has scattered ruin and death
throughout the whole northern part of tne
island. Hardly village has escaped and not
merely property, but HE has been destroyed in
nearly the whole. Molivo has been ali but
entirely demolished and several hundreds of
its six or seven thousand inhabitants have, it is
said perished in the ruins. 1t is, in fact no
exaggeraton to say that half the island has
been laid waste. with sacrifice Of human life
that may be reckoned by thousands. No such
disaster has ever befallen Mytelene.