Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1915-01-22
$4,000 LIVES LOST
IN ITALIAN QUAKE
AvEzzANo IN RUINS, ROME DAM
AGED AND OTHER TOWNS
SUFFER.
10000 RECEIVE INJURIES
1000 Are Reported Dead at Avezzano.
Panic Caused In Rome by Serious
Dlsturbance-Shock Strong
est In 100 Years.

Rome.-The toll of dead and injured
In the great earthquake that swept
over Central and Southern Italy has
not been made up, but advices reach
ing Rome indicate the ever-growing
extent of the disaster.
Towns with thousands of inhabitants
have been overthrow and from some
of these come details which show an
immense loss of life Estimates ran
from $4,000 to $4,000 dead and injured,
and yet there are several sections
which undoubtedly felt the earthquake
in full measure from which no esti-
mates can be obtained.
In the ancient territory Of Marsi,
which includes Avezzano, the victims
are placed at 10000. Only small mi
nority is left of the inhabitants of
Avezzano, who numbered approximate
ly 10000.
Fifteen other towns and villages In
that section have been laid waste.
King Victor Emmanuel is at Avezzano
and 10000 soldiers have been dis
patched to various centers where the
force of the disturbance was greatest.
Italy as nation has arisen again to
give succor, as she did at the time of
the Messina earthquake six years ago,
to those who have fallen in the latest
catastrophe from which the country
has suffered.
While the greater part of the dam
fx,t Ia ri al q
there has been at least one severe
shock since then which resulted in
the collopse of many structures which
escaped the first, and it is estimated
that more than 100 shocks, for the
most part of a minor nature, occurred
during the "a hours after the disaster.
King Victor Emmanuel himself d.
rected the work at Avezzano, where
the piteous appeals of persons caught
beneath wreckage could be plainly
heard.
1t is estimated that in Avezzano A.
900 persons are buried alive, some of
them school children in an institution
which collapsed
Only four soldiers of the garrison of
400 in Avezzano escaped when the
barracks fell.
Sora, with its population of 10000,
was almost entirely destroyed. All
municipal government authorities per-
ished. Four hundred and fifty bodies
already have been taken from tibet
ruins there, and large number Of in
iured are under treatment
Trains arriving in Rome from the
east are bringing hundreds of injured
into Rome, where they are being taken
to hospitals and private houses for
treatment. Surgeons and nurses are
being dispatched from all directions
into the stricken districts to minister
to the needs of the injured, while
troops are being sent to the ruined or
damaged towns to guard against van
dals.
The SHOCK was the strongest Rome
has felt in more than 100 years.
The town of Avezzano, in the
Abruzzi department, % miles east Of
Rome, has been levelled to the ground,
and here 5000 persons are reported to
have been killed.
In many small towns surrounding
Rome buildings were partially |
wreckde, while at Naples a panic &C.
CURED and houses fell at Saserta, a |
short distance to the east.
From below Naples in the south to |
Ferrera in the north, a distance of |
mora than 200 milac and acroce al. |
most the width of the country, the |
undulatory movement continued for |
considerable period.
In the capital itself, so far as known,
there was no loss of life, but great |
deal of damage was done, churches
suffered most. For a time the people |
were stricken with fear, and there
was a veritable panic in hospitals,
monasteries and converts.
Buildings on both sides of the Porta |
Del Popolo the north entrance to |
Rome, threatened to fall, and the eagle |
decorating the gate was crashed to
the ground. The obelisk in st. Peters |
Square was shaken and badly dam
aged, while the statue of st. John
Lateran and the statues of the Apos-
ties, surmounting the Basilice, are in
danger of collapsing. The famous col
onnade decorating st. Peters Square
was lowered four feet. and the ada
cent house, once occupied by the sis
ters of Pope Plus x, was badly
cracked.