THE WORLD'S MOST CRUEL EARTHQUAKE 391 



WRETCHED TYPE OF BUILDINGS 



Architecturally many of the buildings 

 of Messina were superb, the effect of 

 strength being emphasized by massive 

 walls and columns. But when one in- 

 vestigates the details of construction and 

 of material used both features are found 

 to be deficient. A worse type of struct- 

 ure within an area frequented by earth- 

 quakes is difficult to imagine. The 

 houses, which were from two to four 

 stories high, were built of round cobbles 

 or rubble cemented together with a poor 

 mortar which is sadly lacking in strength ; 

 even the walls are not bound together, 

 the cross-beams for a floor being set in 

 rows of indentations left in the wall at 

 the time of construction. On these cross- 

 beams, which are often only wooden 

 poles, the tiled floors are laid, and the 

 roofs, too, are generally covered with 

 heavy tiles. The effect of the earthquake 

 is quite evident ; the walls of the buildings 

 cracked readily and spread sufficiently to 

 permit the heavy floors and roofs to drop 

 to the ground ; the walls thus being freed, 

 subsequent shocks caused them to tumble 

 on top of the already partially wrecked 

 building, completing its destruction. Thus 

 they collapsed amid suffocating clouds of 

 dust into a hideous conglomeration of 

 rubble, mortar, and furniture, forming 

 regular deadfalls for man. 



HOW WILL MESSINA BE REBUILT 



In the Italian Parliament a week after 

 the disaster it was said that "Messina 

 shall rise again." This bold proposition 

 was applauded vigorously and initial ap- 

 propriations were immediately made. 

 But it is not enough to make proposi- 

 tions and endorse them with vigor. Over 

 three months have passed since the dis- 

 aster with no attempt to rebuild. A com- 

 mission, consisting of seismologists, ge- 

 ologists, and engineers, was formed to 

 determine the questions when, where, 

 and how reconstruction could best be 

 accomplished. They are still debating 

 and it may be months before any definite 

 steps will be taken. Messina is one of the 

 essential ports of the world, both from 



commercial and military standpoints. Its 

 strategic position, like Gibraltar, com- 

 mands a snip's highway and in its harbor 

 a whole fleet may hide in safety. Any 

 one knowing its situation cannot doubt 

 but that the risk will be taken and a new 

 city built. 



As to "when" reconstruction shall be- 

 gin there is little difference of opinion, 

 the answer being "as soon as possible." 

 The first necessity will be to remove the 

 present debris, which is estimated to 

 amount to 1,000,000 tons. From this 

 mass of wreckage there are still about 

 40,000 bodies to be recovered and buried 

 before the place is even fit to live in. 

 Thus to prepare the present site so that 

 construction work could begin will take 

 at least a year and probably longer. 



The second question, "where," cannot 

 be answered until careful scientific in- 

 vestigations of the entire area now in 

 progress have been completed, and even 

 then the selection of a site will necessarily 

 be governed by the military and commer- 

 cial requirements. I have heard sug- 

 gested for a possible site the area just 

 south of Gazzi, about 3 miles south of 

 the harbor, as here the gravel bench is not 

 deep and the buildings did not suffer as 

 much damage as those at Messina. The 

 slopes of the mountains where solid rock 

 foundation occurs and where small vil- 

 lages were unhurt have also been sug- 

 gested, but such a site would not be prac- 

 ticable from a commercial viewpoint. 

 This selection of a new site is a per- 

 plexing task, and in the end the property- 

 owners and the sentiment of the people 

 may prompt the rebuilding of the city on 

 its present location. 



This second question decided, then the 

 third, the most important of all, will have 

 to be carefully considered. How should 

 the city and towns along this unstable 

 coast line be rebuilt ? To begin with, the 

 streets of the city should conform with 

 the direction of the straits, which is said 

 to be parallel with the direction of the 

 seismic wave, for it was noted that build- 

 ings along streets which run diagonally 

 to this direction were more greatly shat- 

 tered. It was also noted that buildings 



