The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-01-21
From the Chicago Record-Herald.

From the Chicago Record-Herald.
 THE death and devastation wrought
 (0 in the worlds history by earth
 quakes are so enormous as to be almost incalculable Of the earlier earth ouakes of which history makes record there are, indeed, no reliable statis'ics available. and estimates of the total num- Der of persons killed and the value Of property destroyed by seismic shocks can be only approximate. It is believed now ever, that upwards of 2,OOo0oo persons have been killed by earthquakes ana more than A,o0o, ,ooo,OOo worth of property mas been destroyed by the same cause.
 No part of the eartf's surface, 1t IS de- cIared by scientists, is entirely free rom the possibility of suffering from earth quake and the areas affected at one time or another by trernors of the earth fncfude all continents North and South America, Europe, Asia and Africa-all nave nao their earthquakes.
 No earthduake of history was more ter rible in several aspects than the catastro- phe which overlook San Francisco on April IS last While the San Francisco quake was not productive of great loss of life-it being estimated that not more than 1000 persons were killed-tnat ols- aster was frightful in the extreme De- cause of the intense suffering involved and because of the enormous property loss. estimated at $25o, OO,oOO. In addition to the appalling effect at San Francisco the quake also wrought damage in other California towns, eight cities being ruined wholly or in part, with the loss of sev- erai hundred lives and the destruction of several millions of dollars worth of property.
 The first shock in San Francisco oc- cured at 5:13 o'clock In the morning, corning without any previous warning whatever Crashing buildings and the shrieks of the injured and the terrified threw the whole city into an immediate panic The shock lasted three minutes
 The moment it had subsded it was dis covered that the city was on fire in score of places, that the water mains had been broken by the quake and that San Francisco was doomed
 The flames ragged throughout that day and the next, and on the third day had not been entirely stopped Hundreds of buildings were destroyed by dynamite troops took possession of the city and martial law was proclaimed, the condi- tions being appalling in the extreme. When the flames finally were quelled it was found that SO0OO buildings had been demolished. 1000 city blocks destroyed and an area ten miles square burned over.
 Numerous minor shocks occurring at in tervals for ten days, succeeded the first great shock.
 Another American earthquake which caused widespread damage and desolation was that at Charleston, s. C., in Septem- Der, 1SS6 The main shock was preceded by minor tremors, to which little atten- ton was paid by the inhabitants or the city. The disturbance covered tract of country extending from the Atlantic Coast to the Mississippi valley, and from Alabama to Lake Michigan.
 The first shock lasted about one minute and other shocks ...!owed at intervals with gradually diminishing violence. Hun dreds of houses were thrown down and nearly every structure in the city dam aged. Forty-one persons were killed.
 Despite these two serious American earthquakes. the United States has not. however, suffered greatly in comparison with some other portions of the world from seismic disturbances Italy, for in- stance, has for centuries been peculiarly subject to quakes, and vast numbers of persons and huge amounts of property have been swept out of existence.
 The most disastrous of all earthquakes as far as authentic records show, was that in Calabria, Italy, in 17s3, which killed 100000 persons That quake originat- ed in the center of the province and ex- tended to the eastern coast of Sicily, de- stroying utterly the city of Messina.
 In September. 1905, Calabria and Sicily were again sufferers from an earthquake of terrible effect Four hundred persons were killed, GOO injured and thousands rendered homeless
 Another of the most appalling and re- markable seismic shocks of modern his- tory was the quake at Lisbon. Portugal, in November. 1755. In that catastrophe it