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KF5JRV > TODAY 28.12.18 14:30l 38 Lines 1964 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 27983_KF5JRV
Read: GUEST
Subj: Today in History - Dec 28
Path: IW8PGT<IR2UBX<SR1BSZ<LU4ECL<VE3UIL<AB0AF<KF5JRV
Sent: 181228/1226Z 27983@KF5JRV.#NWAR.AR.USA.NA BPQ6.0.17
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
landö–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 nightclothes, 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.
73 de Scott KF5JRV
Pmail: KF5JRV@KF5JRV.#NWAR.AR.USA.NA
email: KF5JRV@ICLOUD.COM
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