Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1906-05-03
The Worlds Disastrous Earthquakes


fzlcIH 1f1fzRrEfFz
Among the great disasters recorded
in history there have been few in
which earthquake and fire have con-
bined to destroy life and property az
in San Francisco. Volcanic eruptions
have been frequent accompaniment
or earthquakes, and, as in the recent
catastrophe around Naples, have been
responsible for great destruction, but
there is no parallel to be found for
the calamity which descended upon
the city of the golden gate. There
nature worked with "a vengeance
| first oyerthrowing the buildings and
then making futile the efforts of man
to subdue the flames which attacked
the ruined structures.
No portion of the globe, scientists
declare, is absolutely immune from
earthquakes, but there are circum-
scribed regions in which the surface is
! liable to be shaken which are describ.
ed as earthquake areas" San Fran
cisco is situated within one of these
areas and has experienced numerous
shocks in the past sixty or seventy
years.
Italy Danger Spot
Italy has for ages been peculiarly
subject to these seismic disturbances.
It's recent experience In connection
with the eruption OF Vesuvius being
one OF the escores occurring in the last
century. Japan, China, India and the
western coast of South America all
have been the scenes of appalling
earthquakes, hundreds of thousands of
human beings losing their lives.
Compared with other countries the
United States has suffered but little
from earthquakes, the most notable
disturbances of the earths surface
occurring in 1S11-1812 near the head of
the Mississippi delta; in Inyo valley
California, in 1872, and at Charleston.
5. c., in 1886. The earthquake at
Charleston destroyed large number
OF buildings and killed twenty-seven
persons outright, others dying later
from injuries. Eight or ten villages
located in Inyo valley were destroyed
and one-tenth of the population was
killed. The New Madrid earthquake
OF 1S111812 affected a dozen or more
counties in southern Missouri and
northern Alabama.
100000 Die in Quake.
Most disastrous OF all earthquakes,
SO far as authentic records show, was
that which occurred in Calabria. Italy,
in 1888, and which killed 1000 per.
sons. 1t originated in the center OF
the province, and extending to The
eastern coast of Sicily, destroyed the
city of Messina, a tremendous tidal
wave engulfing the greater portion of
the city.
Among the earthquakes of early
date in Italy was that of A. d. So.
which wrecked the cities of Pompeii
and Herculaneum, sixteen years before
they were buried under the lava and
ashes thrown out by Vesuvius. The
most notable earthquake in Italy in
the last century, preceding the one
which swept over the northern part
of the country in 1895 and caused
tremendous damage, took place il
1857 in the kingdom OF Naples.
The earthquake which visited
Lisbon, Portugal, Nov. l, 1855, was
! one OF the most appalling and remark
able manifestations in the history OF
modern times. Sixty thousand lives
are believed to have been lost in six
| minutes. 1t was All Saints day, and
the churches were filled with worship
ers, when the rumbling noise which
| invariably precedes an earthquake was
heard. A few moments passed, and
then came shock which threw down
the greater portion of the city before
| the people had a chance to escape
from the buildings. The sea retired
leaving the bar dry and then rushed
back in a wave fifty feet high, engulf-
ing part of the city permanently to a
depth of 500 feet. The shock was
felt in the Alps and on the coast OF
| Sweden. The waves of the shock
reached as far north as Scotland.
South America Visited.
South America has been subjected
to many severe earthquakes. The city
OF Caracas, Venezuela, was destroyed
by three shocks within a minute n
1912. Quito, Ecuador. was almost
obliterated by an earthquake in 1859
The city OF Lima, Peru, and its harbor.
Callao. were destroyed by an earth
quake, which occurred in 1865 on the
western coast the mountain region OF
the Andes from Chile to Ecuador,
distance of over 1000 miles.
This earthquake leveled the cities
of Africa and Arequipa, Peru, to the
ground in few minutes. Thousands
were killed and many other thousands
were left starving amid the ruins.
The city of Caloocha. in the Andes
OF Ecuador. and its inhabitants, were
literally swallowed up by gaping
month npAncd nv yolcapir fovaau apd