The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1909-01-06
Quake
Ridden
! Land

was devastated by a series of shocks
which destroyed fifty-four cities ard
300 villages. Catanla, with 1S.CC0 pop
ulation, was blotted out of existence.
and the total loss of life I'm Sicily was
upward of 100000. In 1888 Messina
lost 10000 by an earth cOnvuIsion which
lasted only half a minute. Within q
period Of seventy-five years. from 1TS3
to 1857, the kingdom Of Naples, ac-
credited with a population Of 6.OOO.OOO
lost 10000 by earthquake.
In point of loss Of life and property
the most disastrous earthquake Of the
Inst two centuries occurred I'm Tokyo.
then called Yeddo, in 1903. Exact In
formation concerning that gigantic up
heaval is not available, but from the
most authentic japanese accounts 1t
appears that nearly 100000 persons
were destroyed. Twenty-eight years
later Pekin had fits fatal shakeup. with
a loss Of over 10000 persons and an
immense destruction Of property. Nei-
ther Of these oriental catastrophes was
accompanied by greater violence than
attends similar events in other coun-
tries, and the greater mortality is due
to the densely populated area within
the zone of shock
Some other great earth convulsions
Of the eighteenth century were that of
1746 at Lima, I'm which $4,000 were
lost; that of 1854 at Cairo, with fits
10000 victims, and the memorable up
heavals at Quito in 1877 and at Guate-
mala in 1773.
In 1T55 Lisbon experienced its never
to be forgotten blow. The great tidal
wave which accompanied this earth
quake was announced at the mouth of
the river Tagus by the sea retiring and
leaving the bar perfectly dry. Then
huge wave fully sixty feet in height
rolled In from the ocean and over
whelmed the city. which the earth
quake had already toppled over. With
in a period of six minutes upward Of
60.c00 persons perished. This Lisbon
earthquake was especially remarkable
for the great area covered by its activ-
ity. Humboldt estimated this area rs
more than four times the size of En-
rope. In the track of the disturbance
immense mountain ranges like the
Alps and Pyrenees were shaken vio-
lently. The solid earth was Jared as
far north as the shores of the Baltic.
and the lOwlands of the North sea re
gion were visibly disturbed. Flowing
springs in Germany. notably the hot
springs at Toplitz, disappeared for sew
eral hours. only to return as boiling
torrents. The wave of disturbance
even crossed the Atlantic, causing phe
nomenally high tides in the West In
dies and even on the South American
coasts. 1t shook the North American
continent as far west as the great
lakes. In France deep fissure opened
i'm the earth. and in northwestern At
rica many thousand persons were bur-
led in fallen houses.
seismograph Gave Warning.
1t is now the theory that Fremont
tory signs of the recent quake were
observed as long ago as November.
Central and southern Europe were dis
turbed, as indicated by the seismo-
graph. and various well defined roar
ings and even explosions were heard
In the vicinity of volcanic heights all
over the continent. One marked effect
of this impending seismic outbreak
was noticed at the German mineral
springs of Baden-Elster, where the
temperature of the water rose 10 de-
grees. Until the recent lamentable af-
fair in Italy the seismic record of 1908