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THE MESSINA EARTHQUAKE

30 December 1908

The panic of the inhabitants in Calabria is indescribable, but quite justifiable, Palmi and Bagnara being practically destroyed, while in the region around Monteleone, which is most affected, the dead may be counted by thousands. People abandoned their homes by thousands and remained in the torrential rain, half-naked, not daring to return into their tottering dwellings, and filling the air with their lamentations, prayers, and, in many cases, imprecations. At some places the people had the courage to enter the half-wrecked churches and take the statues of the Saints, which they carried in procession, to the open country, in a downpour of rain, invoking the mercy of God. In the mountainous regions of the interior, the population have taken refuge in grottoes, caves, and subterranean cavities, which are safe against earthquake, and are there living in common, peasants, priests, soldiers, and gentlefolk, all sleeping together, on the ground, with a fire in the centre for heat.

Refugees from Messina who are arriving at Catania and Palermo say that yesterday morning, before the sun had risen, the town was almost uprooted, and those who were not killed, descended to find the streets blocked by fallen houses. Everywhere were streams of injured people, half-mad with excitement and fear, most of them in scanty night attire, shivering in the torrential rain, while the lower portion of the town was inundated by a huge wave, the water reaching the hips of the fugitives.

A CAPTAIN’S NARRATIVE.

PALERMO, DEC. 29.*

The captain of the Italian steamer Washington, which went to Messina yesterday morning, says that at 20 minutes past 5, when near the Straits, the ship quivered as though she had lost her screw. The captain thought that his ship had run aground. At the same time a thick fog enveloped the vessel, blotting out the Messina lighthouse and the Calabrian coast. Between 5.25 and 6.45 five separate shocks were felt. At a quarter past 8 a barque approached the steamer and the men shouted out that disaster had overwhelmed the town and appealed for help. At the entrance of the Straits the water was strewn with wreckage, broken furniture, and debris of all descriptions. Everywhere there were appalling scenes of destruction. The steamer was met by sailing vessels all along the coast appealing for help. Near Ganzirri a delegate of the Mayor put out and stated that at that place there were 1,000 killed and 500 injured.

Railway communication between Catania and Messina has been re-established. A train bringing refugees and injured from Messina to Catania has arrived. The refugees, who are almost mad with terror, assert that the Hotel Trinacria with its staff and 90 visitors has been destroyed, as well as the Town-hall, the Bourse, the post and telegraph office, and the barracks. The report of terrible damage having been done by the movement of the sea is confirmed. A gigantic wave overwhelmed Messina.

Troops are leaving here for Messina with doctors and medical appliances. The doctors here have formed a relief committee which will take upon itself the task of organizing a hospital ship to succour the victims.

Heartrending scenes took place on the departure of the steamer Regina Margherita for Messina this morning. The vessel is crowded with weeping men and women going to Messina to search for relatives and friends.

The earthquake at Messina was the most devastating natural disaster to have occurred in Europe, rivalled only by that at Lisbon in 1755. It struck in the early morning of 28 December 1908, while most people were still in their beds, and largely destroyed the Sicilian port of Messina. At least 75,000 people, half of its population, were killed by falling masonry as they slept or tried to flee. Thousands of others lay trapped in the debris.

Ten minutes later, the city of Reggio Calabria on the other side of the strait was submerged by 40-feet (12-metre) high waves from a tsunami. As many as 25,000 victims perished there and in towns along the neighbouring coastline, including 1,800 prisoners in Reggio’s gaol.

The catastrophe swept away railway tracks and telegraph lines, hampering efforts at rescue and the government was forced to impose martial law to prevent looting. Britain, which sent four warships to help, was among the countries which took part in the relief effort. Both cities were eventually rebuilt in modern materials.