The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1909-01-18
GREAT EARTHQUAKE WAS
--LATEST, BUT NOT THE LAST
Opinion of Famous Astrooger and Scientist
Other Scientists Develop Theories for
Sician Disaster.

Calabria and Sicily indicates that the
catastrophe was greater than the one
in 1905, as the influence of the earth
quake was felt over a much wider area. !
In a short conversation which I had
this morning with NJ Camille Flamma.
rion, the famous astronomer and scien-
fist said:
'.There is, unfortunately, nothing
surprising in this disaster. Tt is the
latest but certainly not the last of
long series, for the region which has
just felt the devasting effects of this
earthquake has been noted from the
beginning of history as one WHERE the
most formidable forces of nature are
in constant activity. Here is situated
Aetna, where the ancients located Vul-
can s smithy; Vesuvius, which reawak,
ened in 70 A. D., after centuries of
tranquility and destroyed Herculaneum
and Pompeii, and Stromboli.
GIN all probability volcanic agency is
responsible for this latest terrible catas-
/ trophe, though to ask for a general ex-
PLANTATION of the cause of earthquakes is
rather like asking for the general cause
of all the accidents that happen daily
throughout the world There are SO
many causes that each individual case
must be considered separately. Never.
theless, earthquakes may be broadly
| classified as volcanic or non-volcanic in
origin. AS Calabria and Sicily are cen.
tiers of volcanic activity one is justified
in attributing the earthquakes in this
neighborhood to volcanic agency.
/ Gas you know, great percentage
of the matter which escapes from a
volcano is steam, generated in subter.
ranean regions and heated to unimagin-
able temperature from water that filters
in through the ocean bed or is let in
through its sudden subsistence. This is
probably what has happened in the
present case; the infitration of water,
either gradual or sudden, has resulted
the natural outlets, Aetna, Vesuvius
and Stromholi, are insufficient, and the
earth crust has yielded to its fearful
pressure. The fact that since the most
violent shock Aetna and Vesuvius have
been quiescent strengthens that hypoth.
esis, as the earthquake permitted the
| -, fa,a.
NJ. Flammarion has further developed
his views on the Calabrian catastrophe
in letter to the editor of the Herald
which I cable, as it will undoubtedly
be of interest to readers who are scien
tifcally inclined.
M. F1ammarion's Letter.
NJ Flammarion s letter is as follows
s'To the Editor of the Herald: Tht
cataclysm which at half-past five
o clock on the morning of Decembel
% shook the soil of Calabria from
Cosenza on the north to Messina, Sicily
on the south will remain inscribed il
! black mourning letters in the annal
of seismology.
ssAlready this volcanic soil had beer
severely tried three years ago by tn,
! violent earthquake of September AM
s, 1905, which cost the lives of NOR,
j than four hundred persons. This tim
the cataclysm was worse still in mum
! Der of victims and the quantity of ruin
heaped up and by the greater extern
\ ! of the disaster toward the south.
cit would seem that there have beer
\ three eerters of the shock, the first Il
Calabria, the second in Sicily and tn
third under the sea. At Calabria AM
Messina an enormous tidal wave finish
ed the work of destruction commence,
by the earthquake. The sea rose up i
a gigantic wave more than thirty fee
! high, and boats were thrown by tn
force of the waves into the streets o
the town and even some distance int
the country. That is what happene
in 1923, when Messina scarcely restoI
ed from the ruins of 1888, was ravag
ed by a tidal wave.
Aggravated by Weather.
= n'The exceptional rigor of tempera
D ture and the torrential rain have furthe
4 increased the gravity of the disaster
Eight hundred dead are spoken of solel
q in the Palmi district. At various point
Y the military barracks have erashe
q down, swallowing up everything be
q meath their debris.
'These fearful movements Of tn
u soil are not calculated to surpris
biologists. who remember that Sicily
$ the country of Vulcan, whose forge wa
q under Aetna From the most antiqu
s times these countries, the exterior as
pect of which is so enchanting, hav
u been saddened by a succession of dis
= asters. 1t is probable that this destin
is not near its end, for the whole dis
: trict dominated by Aetna, Stromboli an
\ Vesuvius is of essentially volcanic col
J stitution.
Steam Sought Vents.
\ "This is TO be oted:-These thre
I volcanoes are at present in a period c
J calm, as if the steam, which is activ
I in all these phenomena, had ceased t
J find normal passage and had bee
I obliged to force it's way out throug
! other subterranean channels. We al
4 obliged to think, indeed, that there al
I earthquakes of volcanic origin, an
I that this one belongs to that categor,
\ consequently is essentially local, a
4 though there may have been far ava
\ more or less marked repercussions
-,