Messina Earthquake of 1908

 

 WORST EUROPEAN EARTHQUAKE:

December 28, 1908

THIS DAY IN HISTORY newsletter, THE HISTORY CHANNEL

 

"At dawn, the most destructive earthquake in recorded European history strikes the Straits of Messina in southern Italy, leveling the cities of Messina in Sicily and Reggio di Calabria on the Italian mainland. The earthquake and tsunami it caused killed an estimated 100,000 people. Sicily and Calabria are known as la terra ballerina – "the dancing land" – for the periodic seismic activity that strikes the region. In 1693, 60,000 people were killed in southern Sicily by an earthquake, and in 1783 most of the Tyrrenian coast of Calabria was razed by a massive earthquake that killed 50,000. The quake of 1908 was particularly costly in terms of human life because it struck at 5:20 a.m. without warning, catching most people at home in bed rather than in the relative safety of the streets or fields. The main shock, registering an estimated 7.5 magnitude on the Richter scale, caused a devastating tsunami with 40-foot waves that washed over coastal towns and cities. The two major cities on either side of the Messina Straits – Messina and Reggio di Calabria – had some 90 percent of their buildings destroyed. Telegraph lines were cut and railway lines were damaged, hampering relief efforts. To make matters worse, the major quake on the 28th was followed by hundreds of smaller tremors over subsequent days, bringing down many of the remaining buildings and injuring or killing rescuers. On December 30, King Victor Emmanuel III arrived aboard the battleship Napoli to inspect the devastation. Meanwhile, a steady rain fell on the ruined cities, forcing the dazed and injured survivors, clad only in their night clothes, to take shelter in caves, grottoes, and impromptu shacks built out of materials salvaged from the collapsed buildings. Veteran sailors could barely recognize the shoreline because long stretches of the coast had sunk several feet into the Messina Strait."

 

Photos of the Messina earthquake in Italy in 1908 by Arturo Tocchetti (1883 – 1968)

http://www.rkm.com.au/PHOTOS/index.html

RMS Republic Gallery : The Italian Earthquake

http://www.rms-republic.com/gallery/Earthquake

PBS: People & Events, Messina Earthquake

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/rescue/peopleevents/pandeAMEX99.html

 

"On December 28, 1908, at approximately 5:20am, Europe‘s most powerful earthquake shook southern Italy. Centered in the Messina Strait, which separates Sicily from Calabria, the quake’s magnitude equaled a 7.5 by today’s Richter scale. Moments after the quake’s first jolt, a devastating tsunami formed, causing forty-foot waves to crash down on dozens of coastal cities. The Messina quake was undeniably the most destructive to ever hit Europe. Most of southern Italy‘s cities lost as many as half their residents that morning. The population of the city of Messina alone — 150,000 — was reduced to only hundreds; the total death toll throughout Italy was estimated at nearly 200,000. Accounts of shaking and aftershocks were reported throughout Sicily. Signs of the jolt even appeared in Washington, D.C., where the day’s crude technology picked up signals of the disaster." ~ PBS