EARTHQUAKE IN CALABRIA, 1783. 267 



city of Messina in 1783. The shocks commenced on the 6th of 

 February, and ended March 28th, though^ epeated at intervals for 

 a space of four years. The full and interesting accounts of this 

 convulsion, carefully prepared by scientific men, render this earth- 

 quake of much more importance to the geologist than many others 

 which have occasioned infinitely more destruction of life and 

 property, but of whose effect in changing the country we are al- 

 most entirely ignorant. The concussion of this earthquake was 

 felt over a great part of Sicily, and the \Phole of Calabria, ex- 

 tending as far as Naples. The centre of the surface which suf- 

 fered the most, was the small town of Oppido, in the neighbor- 

 hood of Atramonte, a high, snow-capped peak of the Appenines. 

 From this point, for a distance of twenty-five miles in all direct- 

 ions, nearly all the towns and villages were destroyed, and if we 

 describe a circle with the same centre, having a radius of seventy- 

 two miles, it will include all the country affected by this earth- 

 quake. The first shock, February 5th, threw down in the course 

 of two minutes, the greatest part of the houses in all the cities, 

 towns, and villages, from the western acclivities of the Appe- 

 nines, (which traverse Calabria from north to south) in upper 

 Calabria, to Messina in Sicily, convulsing the whole country. 

 The granitic chain of mountains was slightly affected by the first 

 shock, but more sensibly by those" that followed ; the principal 

 shock being propagated with a wave like motion through the 

 tertiary sands, sandstones, and clays, from west to east; and where 

 the line of tertian 7 rocks joined the granite, the shocks were most 

 severe, probably owing to the interruption of the undulatory 

 movements of the softer strata by the harder granite, which pre- 

 vented the passage of the shocks to 'the countries on the opposite 

 sides of the mountain range. About 200 towns and villages were 

 destroyed, more than one hundred hills slid down, fell together 

 and damming up rivers, formed lakes. The quay at Messina 

 sank down fourteen inches below the level of the sea. Deep fis- 

 sures were caused at several places, and many subsidences, and 

 upraisings of the ground took place, and the general features of 

 the country were so altered that they could scarcely be recognized. 

 Thus in a very short space of time the whole country was as 



