Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1915-01-28
From Earliest History 1t Has
Suffered from Quakes.
Greek Philosophers as Early a. 400 u.
G. Investigated Causes Of Disturbance
Last Great Shock. in zoos, Destroy
cd Mcssina and Tool. 10000 Lives.

with that Of the peninsula and the adj
Joining Island of Sicily.
Lying. as il does within one Of the
two great earthquake zones of the earth
ltalN's uneasy surface attracted the at
tention of the Greek philosophers as far
back as 100 h. G. Aristotle made a careful
study of Italian earthquake phenomena,
and reached the conclusion that their
number and violence were due to the I'M
usual number and size of the earth cav
orns in southern Italy. within which. he
thought, air disturbances attained such
magnitude as to burst through the earths
crust and throw tho entire region tenn
porarily out Of balance.
The earliest reporter Of an earthquake
In Italy when thicretius the Epicurean.
vino lived from % to ~ r. G. His account
Of tho quake. however. concerns, itself on
urely with the disturbance and its effect
upon his own mental equilibrium. and
utterly omits such details as the number
Of dead ana injured and the property
damage
The first serious earthquake In Italy
in tho Christian era occurred in the
ncighburhood of NoSuvius in the year 60
The temple of Jupiter at Pompei was
thrown down. ana considerable loss Of
life and property occurred This Garth
quake was the subject Of n careful in
vcstigation by P'inY the Elder who an
nounced that he agreed with Aristotle
that its cause was an air disturbance in
vast cavcrns beneath the city
GREAT ERUPTION OF VFSI-VIIS.
In A. n. 70 however occurred the great
or
panied by violent oarthQuakc shocks OK
tending over the whole southern end Of
the peninsula Some go peonlc lost their
lives, among them Pllny the Elder him
self and the cities of Pompeii and Hcr-
rulaneum Were buried beneath the ashes
of the eruption
The peninsula was comparatively quiet
after this dsaS until 543. when great
earthquake shock was felt from Sicily
To- the Alps and caused many people to
believe that the end of the world was at
hand. Another period of 3on wears. and
then. in sol, occurred an oarthauake felt
also in France and southern Germany
but most severe i'm Italy. whcro many
hundreds of lives were lost
In the Year 1877 the city of Catanla in
Sicily. at the foot of Mount Etna. felt the
hand of destruction that since has smit-
ten her again. Tho entire town was laid
in ruins, and it was estimated that 49,
eo persons We're buried beneath the
wreckaee of their homes
Thi- time there was only an interval
OF fifty years before the next blow This
time it fell upon Calahria. whore more
lives to the square mile have been sacri-
feed to tn" earthquake god than any 9TH
or region even Of italy.
Most of the loss of life Oh this oc-
cssion was due to tidal wave from the
Adriatil, which overwhelmed one entire
city ben"ath it. drowning nearly co.0on
people
ON Dee >, iot. lust as tho people Of
Naples were stirring abroad In thu morn
Ing. tho ground beneath their feet was
suddenly shaken like tho waves of the
sea. the chroncor SAYS, the buildings
fell. and after another shock the sea rose
into the stloots submerging half the city,
so that io,o"I persons perished there
The people of Naples took no warning
however. and their city was rebuilt again
when. on the Goth Of July. 1876 the catas-
trophe vas repeated on still larger
scale. The entire countryside was laid
waste. no less than thirty towns and
villages being wiped out Of existence
and at least 1000 lives paid the cost
This, incidentally, is a record of slaugh-
ter matched only once in history-by the
terrible day Of Messina ana Calablia, in
1896. when 900 met their deaths
Twelve years later on March q. 1885,
'alabra was smittcn again. on this
occasion the disaster was so widespread
that not n single historian so far as
known, makes any real attempt TO es-
innate the loss OF life. but ii Is known
to have run up in the thousands
Not in Italy proper, but across the
Adriat'c in the ancient Italian and now
Delmauon city OF Ragusa. tho next blow
fell. on April G. 1867. laying tine city flat
and taking 5000 lives
The seventeenth century was a mem
orable one for Italy, as far az earth
quakes go, for only five years after the
destruction of Ragusa, Rimini met tho
same fate IN an earthquake that rang
ed also nearly the whole length OF the
peninsula, but concentrated its fury on
that city, where 1900 We're killed
Catania was destroyed for the second
time In more terrible disaster than tho
first in September of the following year
1898. OF the city and its $500 nhabit-
ants, il Is recorded. not so much as a
trace remained when the earth had quiet
ed and the sea had recedeu from its
fury. Nor was this disaster confined to
Catania, for the whole Stellar coast felt
it's weight Probably in the magnitude
OF destruction and possibly in the loss OF
lie. this was the greatest and most ter
rihle earthquake in the history Of the
world More than fifty town and villages
were thrown in ruins
The new century brought no rest nor
peace to Italy, for in 1903 on February
., Aquila was laid waste by earthquake
and fire. and 800 lives were lost, more
than half the estimated population OF
the town.
The loss of life in medieval times.
It might be well to explain here, was
undoubtedly larger in proportion to the
actual physical magnitude az the up
heaval, due to the methods of building.
Italian towns in those days were built
on the high hills or in narrow pa sses.
walled in and huddlcd closely about the
citadel for protection against rowing
bands. TIL. streets We're far narrower.
and the stone houses were high. As
result, the chances of any great per-
centage of the people escaping from the
overthrow of their homes vas small.
In close succession after the destruc-
ton OF AQuila came the earthquake Of
the Abriz2i. on the "a Of November 1905,
| with the toll OF 16OO lives: the almost
complete ruin az Palermo. at a cost OF