Cut Bank pioneer press. [volume] (Cut Bank, Mont.) 1909-current, 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 a large portion of the lev
astated territory has not been in
spected.
The affected zone extends from Eat
farana the highest village on Mount
Ftna, to Giarre on the north. 1t in
Guides Linera, the center of the dis
tlrbance, Pisano and Santa Verina.
In Linera alone 10 persons We're
killed and 800 injured. In the village
of Bongiardo Is dead and q injured
have been taken from the ruins. At
Cosentini 16 were killed and many in
iured. These villages and many small
err places were practically leveled.
Scenes of DesoIation.
Automobiles which made the trip
through the devastated region were
often forced to make a long detour ow.
ing to the deep fissures across the
road. The district presented a 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
iured relatives be transported t
Catania, as all train service has beer
abandoned owing to the collapse o,
bridges, broken tracks and obstructeC
tunnels.
Long Afflicted by Quakes.
For centuries this region has sui
fered from earthquakes, owing to tn
activity of Mount Etna. Yet it is rela
lively thickly populated, as the LAM
is most fertile, vineyards growing wit
little l'tention.
Wher> Linera stood is a mass o
ruins. Those houses which did not co
| lapse entirely were so broken as t
emphasize the completeness of tn
!, disaster. The village consisted G
: about 500 inhabitants. A majority c
! the people escaped because the shoe
: occurred when the men and some c
: the m were still working in tn
t fields.
This accounts for the fact that mos
: of the victims at Linera were wome
Y and children.
Vicinity of Catania.
The vicinity of Catania, the scene
this earthquake, has probably suffe
{ ed more than any other section in til
!, world from volcanic eruptions an
a bed of lava at the foot of the VIC
: cano of Etna, and most of it's stree
; are paved with lava.
History of District.
; Catania has a population Of 1900
and is the largest city in Sicily.
lies south of Messina on the ca
coast. Ever since it's foundation
B. G. 729, it has been visited frequeI
4 ly by earthquakes. In 121 A. d. it w
partly destroyed by an eruption of N
Etna. In 1869 it suffer d severe
!, from an earthquake. In 1869 during
eruption of Etna a great stream
lava flowed toward Catania, but
course was diverted and the town So
ed. In 1893, when the whole of the /
and of Sicily was affected by an ear
quake Catania was destroyed.
In the earthquake the tidal wave
Calabria on December %, 1908, OF
cial figures gave the number of deaf
:. as 1928, but it was unofficially es
mated that from 15O, 1000 to 100000 p'
' pie lost their lives. The damage
property amounted to about a billi
doI1arc