My Italian: Chapter 532 Messina Earthquake
Messina is the second largest city in Sicily, the city is separated from the Calabria peninsula by the Strait of Messina.
In recent years, Messina has enjoyed the spring breeze of Italian industrial development, and it is not bad. Although it cannot be compared with Palermo, which is mainly supported by Italy, with its excellent geographical location and deep-water port, Messina has developed well in food processing, wine production, and ship maintenance in recent years.
The current war in the Balkans does not have a big impact on Messina. The residents of Messina should still go to work and work.
When night fell, the residents of Messina rushed home and ended their day's work. The hustle and bustle of the city also subsided in the first half of the night, and gradually the residents of Messina fell asleep.
However, the residents of Messina did not know that deep underground in the Strait of Messina, a huge energy was about to erupt violently.
Speaking of which, the Strait of Messina is actually not at all restless. It is located on a stratum fault zone. Since the Roman Empire, geological disasters such as earthquakes and volcanoes have frequently erupted here. The 1783 earthquake was the most serious.
The earthquake that erupted at that time caused a volcanic eruption and a tsunami, followed by floods caused by downpours, which immediately killed more than 30,000 residents of Messina. After the earthquake, it was found that many buildings such as churches were rotated 20 to 30 degrees clockwise, while some buildings were swept away by huge waves. In the following two months, there were several aftershocks in the area. According to statistics at the time, the earthquake killed about 60,000 people. The earthquake did not return to calm until October 1786.
At 5:22 on December 28, 1908, Messina had not woken up from the night, and most of the people were still asleep. At this time, in the underground of the Strait of Messina, an energy equivalent to 5 million tons of tnt is surging.
"Boom!"
The huge energy made the seabed of the entire Strait of Messina sway, and the shaking was getting bigger and bigger, and soon spread to all around.
At this time, Messina also fell into shaking. The magnificent bell tower, church, and theater collapsed one after another, and almost all buildings were reduced to ruins. Because they couldn't bear the force, they collapsed, and in their sleep, people were buried without even screaming.
At this moment, the remnants of Messina, who were shocked by the ground, immediately ran to the open space in a panic. Many people were very naked. At this moment, no one laughed at each other. Everyone who was alive was terrified and did the same. , ran to the surrounding open space.
At this time, they were standing in the open space, looking at the collapsed buildings around them, no one could feel better. They are basically poor people who have lost their husbands, wives, children, and parents. Looking at the buried buildings around, the pain sounded from the heart.
However, their pain was not over yet. The people at the beach were surprised to find that the sea had retreated, revealing the dark seabed, and the boats that docked were sitting directly on it. Many fish and shrimp could not afford to retreat and were left here. . There was a rumbling sound in the distance, which made the crowd at the beach a little confused. They didn't know what the sound was, and everything was shrouded in the night.
But soon, the sound became louder and louder, as if there was a monster there. At this time, a dark shadow slowly came over from the sea.
"No, it's a tsunami!"
At this moment, a survivor cried out in horror, and he pointed to the dark shadow in the night with a shocked expression on his face.
"Run!"
There was a loud roar among the survivors, and the people at the beach immediately ran to the heights in panic.
"Don't push me."
"my shoes."
"Sarah, where are you, run for the tsunami!"
The panicked crowd ran to the heights, but how can people run past the tsunami. Before they could run far, a 12-meter-high wave rushed over. The breakwater did not play a role at all, and was directly submerged. The surging waves destroyed everything, and the collapsed buildings were submerged in the sea. The worst is the people who were pinned down by the collapsed houses. The turbulent sea water poured directly down the gap, and the cries for help gradually subsided.
At this time, Messina was more than half submerged by the surging waves, and many corpses were washed out from the ruins, and a human tragedy was presented to the survivors.
Looking at the tragedy in front of them, many people are crying, they are crying for their lost relatives, they are also crying for other people who died, Messina was almost destroyed, everything was caused by this 7.5 magnitude earthquake damage caused.
In addition to Messina, its surrounding villages were also hit by earthquakes and tsunamis, especially the fishing villages by the sea, which suffered huge losses. Among them, a fishing village named Dias suffered the most losses. Except for a man who went out to look for sheep, everyone in the village was killed in the earthquake and tsunami. After the man finally rushed back, he could only look at the ruins The corpse was in tears.
The earthquake that occurred in the Strait of Messina, although Messina suffered the most damage, does not mean that other places are fine. Calabria is a town on the other side of the strait. It also suffered from earthquakes and tsunamis. Like Messina, the sleeping people did not expect this disaster at all, and its losses were not much less than Messina.
In addition to the two places, Palermo, Naples and other places have suffered more or less losses. Some buildings have cracked and collapsed, and there are records of casualties.
The tremors were felt in Milan, Genoa, Turin, Rome, and other cities in Europe.
At the moment in the Royal Palace of Rome, Carlo had just comforted his terrified wife and children when he saw Prime Minister Cruz hurried over.
"Your Majesty, according to the Earthquake Observatory, the earthquake came from the Strait of Messina. Just sent a telegram to Messina, and the telegram couldn't reach Messina at all. Then we sent it to its surrounding cities, and they said they were all affected by the earthquake. , and coastal cities were also hit by a small tsunami."
Prime Minister Cruz's words let Carlo know the seriousness of the matter. Messina did not return a call, indicating that its communication was blocked, and the loss was absolutely very serious. And the Prime Minister came to ask for support.
"Call a cabinet meeting immediately, we need to send someone to Messina to find out the specific situation."
Following Carlo's order, the ministers of the cabinet soon came to the palace. At the same time, the surrounding damage was also continuously sent to Rome through radio waves, and Carlo also knew the specific situation of the surrounding area one after another.
Catania (the third largest city in Sicily) sent a telegram saying that they had suffered an earthquake and a tsunami, and the loss of personnel and property is being counted, but it is estimated that the loss of people and property will exceed 1,000, and the property will exceed 100 million.
Canistro (the second largest city in Calabria) sent a telegram saying that they were hit by the earthquake and tsunami, and the loss of personnel and property is being counted, but it is estimated that the loss of personnel is over 500, and the loss of property is 8. More than ten million lire.
Palermo sent a telegram saying that they were also hit by the earthquake, which caused some damage to houses with poor earthquake resistance. Hundreds of casualties have been reported, and property damage was around 50 million lire. The major factories in Palermo have been inspected, and there is no damage. They can operate normally. As long as the workers are appeased, they can continue to work.
A telegram from Naples said...
Catanzaro sent a telegram saying...
…
As various governments sent calls to report the loss, Carlo and the government ministers quickly estimated the loss. Of course, the most important thing is that the loss of Messina, the earthquake center, has not been obtained, so the specific disaster situation still needs to wait.
However, the statistics of the disaster situation can wait, but the disaster relief cannot.
"Everyone, the situation in Messina is currently unknown. We need to send capable officials to Messina to organize disaster relief."
Carlo spoke first without waiting for their speech this time.
"No problem, Your Majesty, our government immediately sent people to Messina to organize disaster relief."
Prime Minister Cruz spoke with a serious expression. Received news from all quarters, letting the Prime Minister know that the earthquake caused a lot of damage, and that he has a heavy burden as a Prime Minister.
"The dispatched personnel sent Alitalia's airship over there, and brought some medicine tents or something."
After advising the Prime Minister, Carlo continued. "Then the Ministry of the Interior immediately dispatched relief materials from various places, tents, rain boots, food, medicine excavation machines, water purification systems, etc., and immediately counted them and transferred them to Messina."
The new Home Secretary, Serge Bruguera, who was named by Carlo, immediately agreed. UU reading www.uukanshu.com "As your majesty, I will arrange for someone to count and draw points."
After getting the answer from the Minister of the Interior, Carlo continued to name "On the other side of the army, the army immediately sent troops to Messina, and the surrounding disaster-stricken areas need to send people. In addition to ensuring the local security situation, the army also needs to carry out Personnel rescue and search. In addition, the army also needs to take out supplies for disaster relief. Tents, excavation equipment, water purification equipment, and cans of military rations all need to be brought into Messina.”
Afterwards, Carlo continued to name other ministers, all of which were requests for disaster relief. What to promote disaster relief, what to organize volunteer rescue, what to donate, etc., are all assigned tasks one by one.
The meeting didn't last long, and the ministers all felt a little weird after the meeting, because the whole meeting was made by the king alone, and they were like subordinates, each leading their own tasks. There was no discussion or quarrel in the middle, which was completely unaccustomed to.
In addition, this disaster relief is also different from the current European countries, there is always a sense of government responsibility, everything is managed, everything is done, and it has the meaning of military control.
Although it feels weird, no one dares to be sloppy. Over the years, everyone has seen clearly that the king's strict orders must be followed or the political career will end. Everyone is a person who is willing to sacrifice for the country, how can they accept that the kingdom does not need their dedication?
Therefore, on the day of the earthquake, the rescue work had already started.