Watertown leader. [volume] (Watertown, Jefferson County, Wis.) 1909-1911, 1909-07-02
MESSINH AGAIN
SHAKEN; PEOPLE
IN GREAT PANIC
5ICILIAN CITY ROCKS WITH EARTH
QUAKE MORE SEVERE THAN
DECEMBER %.
DESTRUCTION Is COMPLETE,
Walls of Undamaged Buildings Fall and
Remains of Wrecked Houses
Collapse.
DESTRUCTION is COMPLETE.
AMERICAN HUTS ARE REFUGE

MESSINA. Sicily, July six months
after the devastating earthquake of De
rember %, which laid waste over Il
score of cities and towns in Calabria
and Sicily and killed 100000 persons,
Messina and Reggie were this morning
lgain visited by an earthquake, which,
had they been built, would have laid
them a second time III ruins. 1t would
seem that nature is determined to blot
out Messina, but recently one of the
fairest cities in the world.
While minor shocks have been Of fire.
luent occurrence in Sicily in the last six
months, Wednesday night they became
more serious and caused considerable
alarm. The most severe quakes came
at 7:2O and 7:25 this morning, and were
similar to the fatal disturbances of De
cember, being accompanied by the same
roaring noises that added TO the terror
Of that fateful night. The population
again fled in fear, and cries Of terror
rent the air The people hurried to the
| open places Of the city and the sur
rounding country, praying to the saints
that their lives might be spared.
1t is as yet impossible To accurately
determine the number of casualties
Some of the reports are alarming, but
they cannot be verified. So far as is
positively known, only a few people
were hurt.
Heavier Than December Shock.
The earth shocks have become mere
intense recently and Wednesday night
| they were sufficiently severe to cause
alarm. The shocks Of this morning were
undulating and vertical, and accompa-
MED by deep roaring sounds The first
/ one was followed by an explosion like
! the roar Of cannon, and lasted between
! eight and ten seconds. 1t is said that
| this quake was of greater severity than
/ the fatal one of the night of December
%. The wooden houses and huts erect
| ed for the accommodation of the people
| seemed to be thrown from one side to
another. Cries filled the air as the pe0-
! pie fed into the road.
| AS on the night of December % the
! first shock was followed by a circular
movement of the ground. Five minutes
later there came another quake accom-
panied by further roarings. This com
| pleted the destruction. The remains of
wrecked houses collapsed and the entire
district was covered by a dense cloud
of dust.
Flee to American Huts.
| Detachments of police and carbineers
were dispatched for the protection of
! the wooden huts built with American
| money, but which had not yet been dis
| tributed. The population, fleeing in the
districts where walls threatened to fall
upon them, rushed toward the American
! huts with the intention of taking forci-
! bic possession of them.
The Instruments at the observatory
have registered a total of ten shocke,
of varying severity since ITO O'Clock
this morning. News from the provinces
shows that damage has been wrought
there. but it is as yet impossible cor
rectly to estimate the extent of the dis
| n tn Sailors SplGiarS nd oil
have been sent throughout the district
to prevent looting and to give courage
to the people.
Is Felt IN Reggie.
| REGGIE, July IA strong earth
| shock was experienced here at 7:30 this
morning. Many walls were thrown but
up to the present time no casualties
have been reported. The people are in
condition Of panic