Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1881-06-02
THE EARTHQUAKE IN SCIO.
scenes Of Desolafion aud Iiorror---A yi,is
Description of the Calamity sent frefn tn,
Rulncd isinnd.

on tho island Of Scio, by which about
G,OOO persons lost their lives, q cor
respondent of the London Ne,rs sent
that paper the following vivid account
Of the awful violations:
The temperature on the 81 was
heavy and oppressive, and the horizon
was broken by broad flashes of light
that seemed to denote a coming storm.
In all this atmospheric disturbance,
however, the inhabitants saw nothing
extraordinary, and were far from being
alarmed by what they fancied would re-
suit in Thunderstorm. At ten minutes
to o'clock in the afternoon q terrific
shock was felt, bringing three -fourths
of the houses in town TO the ground
like so many packs of cards, and bury
ing 1000 persons under the falling
ruins. Then commenced fearful scene
of horror. The ground rocked and
danced, kneading the ruin already form
ed into an unrccognizablc mass of stone.
The survivors ran hithcr aud thithcr,
not knowing where to flee to escape the
horrible fate that menaccd them, and
we're tossed and flung about by the
heaying earth like feathers in breeze.
On every side the sinister rumblings OF
the earth, the noise Of falling buildings,
the tearing asunder OF the walls Of
houses and the shrieks OF the wounded
lent fearful horror to the scene. All
sought TO leave the town and get into
the plains in order to avoid being buried
under the falling buildings, but even
those who gained the open country were
by no means safe. The earthquake at
tackled not only the towns and villages,
but worked its rayagcs in the hills and
mountains of the island. Enormous
masses Of rock and earth came rushing
down the hill sides, carrying all before
them, bounding far into the plains, aud
tearing roads in the solid rocks Of the
mountain such - nigh; haze been
formed 10y torrent 1000 year, old.
Some time elapsed bcfor- any OF the
survivors recovered from the terror
caused by the shock sufficiently to be-
able TO comprehend the extent Of the
catastrophe, or to think Of looking for
friends or relatives still perhaps alive
beneath the ruins. The town presented
a pitiablc spectacle Great assures
and crcviccs yavncd in the streets,
walls were falling with crashing re-
port, and entire buildings crumblcd in
fragments to the ground In many
cases whole streets disappeared, and It
was hard to say where the different
wcll-knovn buildings had stood No
one know where to look for family or
friends Tho ground still hcaycd and
tossed, hring ng fresh buildings to the
ground at every moment, and hurrying
innumcablc victims to destruction.
The people seeking to escape were
caught in the staircases of their houEc-
by falling walls. or were crushed by the
entire house falling in on them az they
crossed the threshold. II is impossible
to say what the number of victims
would have been If second shock had
not displaced the ruins formed by the
first, and thus permitted thousands Of
sufferers TO escape or TO bc rescued by
others from the horrible imprisonment
10 which they hal been condemned. In
the town the victims have been very
numerous. The quarters most damaged
are the citadel, the Atzikies quarter,
and the industrial quarter. Beneath the
ruins OF the citadel alone j00victims at
least must be buried Among others
there are forty Turkish women who were
engaged in prayer in an oratory situated
in the court of the castle. The govern
ment palace and buildings, the tele-
graph office and the mosques, are little
better than tottering ruins. Hardly a
minaret in the town remains upright.
The Frank quarter may be said to have
suffered the least of any, but even here
there is not n house the walls of which
do not exhibit one or more ominous
looking creyiccs. All the assures and
crcvices run from east TO west. In the
industrial quarter hardly a house re-
mains standing, and whole families Of
from ten to fifteen persons have per
ished, OF must perish, beneath the
ruins.
In the country the effects of the hor-
rible uphoaval have been more terrible
than in the town. Here the victims may
be counted 10y thousands instead of by
hundreds. The monastery of Neomoni
is completely azed to the ground. and
sixty monks lie buried beneath its walls
The site of the village Of Nenita presents