190865438+At 5: 25 on February 28th, at dawn, most people in the city were still sleeping, and Messina and Reggio in Calabria, Italy felt the vibration for 2-3 seconds. Before the earthquake, it originated from the epicenter in the middle of the Messina Strait. (Scientists are surprised that 188 1 The submarine cable laid between Sicily and the mainland has not been seriously damaged under the constant impact of submarine earthquakes for decades. )。 The second vibration lasted for almost 10 second, and spread to the whole area. Then there was an unprecedented violent vibration, moving from northeast to southwest, and the ground fell together for 35 ~ 40 seconds. The city of Messina was destroyed in the last severe earthquake.
A few seconds later, thousands of people stumbled into the street, which was covered with chimneys, roofs, walls, sand, bricks and other building materials, all of which collapsed in chaos. Wide cracks and ditches were open, engulfing people and livestock. The water pipe burst and the gas pipe exploded and caught fire. All the reservoirs have burst their banks, causing floods in large areas of the city. The storm washed Messina, but it couldn't put out the fire that went straight into the sky. Sea water, first in Messina, at one end of the strait, waves washed ashore for several blocks, sweeping the docks and houses in coastal streets. Thousands of people drowned at the seaside. Then in Calabria, on the other side, it retreated a few blocks and was hit by a 40-foot wave.
Many luxury hotels in Messina, such as Trinaklia, Motorpol and Victoria in France, collapsed into ruins, and all the people in the hotels were buried inside. Some theaters called architectural miracles were razed to the ground. A Normandy building, Sicily Cathedral, a treasure house of art treasures, also disappeared from the ground, only a wall with ancient Gothic carvings still stands there. The Santigregori Monastery and the elaborate statue of the Virgin Mary no longer exist. The history of this painting can be traced back to 1463. Italian banks and American consulates with $2 million in deposits have become a pile of rubble. Although universities and municipal governments facing the sea have survived, their roofs have collapsed, leaving only wall frames. Barracks inside and outside the city collapsed, and almost all the soldiers inside were killed. The prison wall collapsed and it is estimated that 750 criminals escaped.
About 100 people were buried under the ruins of the hotel, and more people clung to various crumbling bars. With the help of Captain alphonse and sailors, Dorisa rescued many panicked tourists. The ship "Alphonse" was in the port at that time.
Dorisa was wandering among the ruins when he saw the escaped prisoner robbing. These bad guys cut off the dead man's finger and stole the ring. He followed a group of criminals and saw them smash a women's clothing store. When they came out, they dressed themselves with the latest and most fashionable jewels in Paris and London.
The ferry between Messina and Reggio in Calabria was slapped by the waves, and the sea at the bottom of the boat almost cracked. The ferry slipped in, was swallowed up by the sea, and then surfaced, and hundreds of passengers were swept away by the flood.
You can see outstretched hands and feet everywhere, indicating that someone needs help. The city hall collapsed, killing dozens of people. When 200 customs officers destroyed their houses, only 4 1 person survived. Of the 280 employees at the railway station, only 8 survived.
As night falls, some people regain consciousness, while others die slowly. Groups of wild dogs, wild boar and mice began to eat dead bodies and harass the wounded.
After learning of this devastating disaster, the commander of the Russian navy stationed in the waters off Goata sent two warships and a patrol boat across the Strait to Messina. The commander could see nothing but the ruins through the telescope. 600 Russian sailors formed a rescue team. They also set up an outdoor temporary hospital, and more than 1000 people received first aid. When the sailors found someone robbing, the commander of the fleet immediately ordered the robbers to be killed. Sailors also chased fugitives, chained prisoners or forced them to dig out residents who were still trapped. Two hours later, at about 1 pm on February 29th, 65438, the British fleet consisting of five ships also sailed for Messina Bay. Howie, the naval commander, sent many sailors ashore and quickly set up a soup kitchen to help rescue the trapped residents.
However, the American fleet did not appear. 1907 65438+1On October 4th, after the earthquake in Kingston, Jamaica, American warships such as Indiana and Missouri went to the rescue, but they were opposed by the anti-American governor. During the Messina earthquake, the American fleet in the Red Sea refused to sail to Messina unless Italian King Victor Emmanuel asked the American fleet to come to the rescue. Nevertheless, millions of dollars' worth of American relief supplies arrived.
The king and queen personally went to Messina to inspect the disaster. The British and Russian fleets took it as their duty to control the chaotic situation in Messina, and the king and queen thanked them. King Victor personally dug up the ruins for hours. According to a report, the king "personally dug up several injured people from the ruins". The queen also personally rescued a 3-year-old child. The child was covered with scars and bleeding profusely. She also personally carried the child on the deck of the warship.
In Messina, only one reinforced concrete house did not collapse. In Reggio, Calabria, 50 buildings survived. However, the death toll and damage in this city are almost equal to Messina.
Calabria prison collapsed, but no prisoners escaped. 180 The prisoner died on the spot, the University of Reggio was razed to the ground, and all the students were killed. 12 miles of railway was damaged. Buildings such as monasteries, churches and government offices were destroyed. When hooligans and robbers wantonly robbed property in the street, Major General cosatto announced the implementation of military management and ordered soldiers to maintain order.
Four mountain cities in Reggio were swallowed up by open faults. There was an 80-foot-wide crack on the ground, which opened and closed repeatedly like a huge mouth. Hundreds of people fell in and died. Hot springs spew out hot springs and burn people nearby. As in Messina and other towns in Sicily, Reggio's dead were burned on firewood to avoid the spread of the plague.
Messina was Italy's 18 port and a famous tourist attraction at that time. For hundreds of years, Messina was severely damaged by the earthquake, resulting in serious loss of life and property. 1783, Calabria earthquake almost destroyed Messina, killing 60,000 people. Before 1908, this Sicilian city was hit by several small earthquakes 10. The buildings damaged by the earthquake were all built of stone when they were rebuilt. A city with thousands of stone pyramids collapsed into ruins in the earthquake disaster of 1908.
Facing the catastrophe of 1908 Messina, it is not difficult to see that this earthquake-prone city is in chaos before the disaster. Among the160,000 citizens who lost their lives, a small number still died in the struggle for food. In the face of extinction, the survivors did not rely on each other and took self-help measures, but killed each other, which was more distressing than the disaster caused by the earthquake. We should know that when the world is changing and the country is in danger, it is the best time to test a country's ability, show a national spirit and test a citizen's quality.