Clearwater Republican. [volume] (Orofino, Idaho) 1912-1922, 1914-05-15
QUAKE KILLED 14O
LARGE DEATH LIST AND PROP.
ERTY DESTRUCTION OCCURS
NEAR MOUNT ETNA, SICILY.
NEARLY 500 REPORTED INJURED ALSO
Villages Laid in Ruins as Death
Sweeps Over Countryside-Peas-
ants Find Homes Destroyed
With Women and Children.

Catania, Italy May 10.-An earth
quake Friday night brought death and
destruction to many villages near Mt.
Etna The number Of dead is officially
given at 139, with about $50 injured,
but as yet large portion of the dew
astated territory has not been in
spected.
The affected zone extends from Zaf-
farana the highest village on Mount
Etna, to Clare on the north. 1t in
cludes Linera, the center of the dis
turbance, Pisano and Santa Verina.
In Linera alone ITO persons were
killed and 300 injured. In the village
of Bongiardo 10 dead and 81 injured
have been taken from the ruins. At
Cosentini 16 were killed and many in
jured. These villages and many small
er places were practically leveled.
Scenes Of DesoIation.
Automobiles which made the trip
through the devastated region were
often forced to make long detOur ow'
ing to the deep assures across the
road. The district presented spec
tacle of desolutian, ruin and death.
| Peasants rushed to meet the auto
mobiles, imploring aid. From the de
bris agonizing cries could still be
heard. Others asked that their in
jured relatives be transported tt
Catania, as all train service has beer
abandoned owing to the collapse o
bridges, broken tracks and obstructe(
tunnels.
Long Afflicted by Quakes.
For centuries this region has sui
fered from earthquakes, owing to thu
activity of Mount Etna. Yet it is rela
lively thickly populated, as the LAM
is most fertile, vineyards growing will
little {, 'tention.
il Wher> Linera stood is a mass o
ruins. Those houses which did not col
lapse entirely were SO broken as t
emphasize the completeness of tn
disaster The village consisted o
about 800 inhabitants. A majority o
the people escaped because the shocl
!, occurred when the men and some o
the women were still working in tn
. fields
This accounts for the fact that mos
. of the victims at Linera were wome
and children.
Vicinity of Catania.
; The vicinity of Catania, the scene q
this earthquake, has probably suffer
ed more than any other section in tn
. world from volcanic eruptions an
earthquakes. Satanic itself is built o
bed of lava at the foot of the vo
cano of Etna, and most of its street
are paved with lava.
History Of District.
Catania has a population of $4,000
and Is the largest city in Sicily.
lies south of Messina on the cas-
coast. Ever since It's foundation
B. c. 729, it has been visited frequen
ly by earthquakes. In 121 A. D. it wa
partly destroyed by an eruption of M
Etna. In 1859 it suffer severed
from an earthquake. In 1869 during a
eruption of Etna great stream {
lava flowed toward Catania, but IT
course was diverted and the town sa,
ed. In 1893, when the whole of the is
and of Sicily was affected by an eartl
quake Catania was destroyed.
In the earthquake the tidal wave 9
Calabria on December %. 1908, off
cial figures gave the number Of death
as 1928, but 1t was unofficially est
mated that from 100000 to 100000 pc,
pie lost their lives. The damage I
property amounted to about a billio
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