212 
EARTH 
This very deftrudlive earthquake is fuppofed to have 
extended over a tract of at lead four millions of fquare 
miles. The earthquakes which happened in 1783, and 
which ruined a great part of Italy and Sicily, tho’ much 
more confined in extent, feem.to have been not at all in¬ 
ferior in violence. 
From tire mod authentic accounts collected by his Si¬ 
cilian majedy’s fecretary of date, it was learned, that 
the part of Calabria which had been mod affedled by 
this heavy calamity, is that comprehended between the 
38th and 39th degree of latitude: that the greated force 
of the earthquake feemed to have exerted itfelf from the 
foot of thole mountains of the Appennines called the 
Monte Dijo, Monte Sacro, and Monte Caulene, extend¬ 
ing weftward to the Tyrrhene fea : that the towns and 
villages neared thefe mountains, fituated either on the 
hills or the plain, were totally ruined by the diock of the 
5th of February about noon ; that as the towns and vil¬ 
lages were at a greater didance from this centre, the da¬ 
mage they received was lefs cortliderable ; but that even 
thele more didaut towns had been greatly damaged by 
the lubfequent (hocks of the earthquakes, and effectually 
by thofe of the 7th, 26th, and 28th of February, and 
that of the id of March; that from the fird diock of 
the 5th of February, the earth had been in a continual 
tremor ; and that the (hocks ttere more fenfibly felt at 
times in dome parts of the afflidted provinces than at 
others ; that the motion of the earth had been either 
whirling like a vortex, horizontal, or by pulfations, or 
by beatings from the bottom upwards. This variety of 
motions increafed the apprehenfions of the diftrefled in¬ 
habitants, who expedled every moment that the earth 
would open under their feet, and fwallow them up. On 
the weftern lide of the mountains above-mentioned, ma¬ 
ny openings and cracks had been made ; fome hills had 
been much lowered, and others entirely fwallovved up ; 
deep chafms had been opened, by which many roads 
were rendered impaflable ; huge mountains were fplit 
afunder, and parts of them driven to a confiderable dif- 
tance ; deep valleys were filled up by the concourfe of 
the mountains which formed them before ; the courfe of 
the rivers were altered ; many fprings of water dried up, 
and new ones formed in their place. A Angular pheno¬ 
menon was faid to have been obferved at Laureana in 
Calabria Ultra; viz. that two whole tenements, with 
large plantations of olive and mulberry trees, fituated in 
a valley perfectly level, had been detached by the earth¬ 
quake, and tranfplanted, with the trees (till remaining 
in their places, to the difiance of about a mile from their 
fir ft fituations ; and that from the (pot on which they for¬ 
merly ftood, hot water had fprung up to a confiderable 
height, mixed with fand of a ferruginous nature: that 
near this place alfo fome countrymen and fhepherds had 
been fwallovved up, with their teams of oxen, and their 
flocks of goats and flieep. The number of lives loft was 
eftimated at 32,367. 
The fate of the inhabitants of Scilla was extremely 
affedling. On the firft (hock, February 5, they had fled 
alongwith their prince to the fea-fhore, where they hoped 
for fafety ; but, in the night-time, a furious wave (faid 
to have been boiling hot, and by which many people 
were alleged to have been fealded) overflowed the 
land for three miles, (weeping oft’in its return 2473 of the 
inhabitants, among whom was the prince himfelf, who 
were at that time either on the ftrand or in boats near the 
fhore. But the mod lingular of ali the phenomena enu¬ 
merated in thefe accounts was, that a hill, about 500 
palms in height, and 1300 in circumference at its bafis, 
jumped to the diftanceof about four miles from the place 
where it formerly ftood. At the fame time the hill on 
which the town of Op'pido ftood, which extended about 
three miles, parted in two ; and as its lituation was be¬ 
tween two rivers, both of thefe were of courfe flopped 
up; two great lakes were formed, and by their continual 
z 
QUAKE. 
increafe threatened to infect the air by their noxious ex¬ 
halations. 
Sir William Hamilton, who, early in the fame year, 
made a tour of curiofity through that country, landed on 
the 6th of May at the town of Pizzo, in Calabria Ultra. 
Here he was alfured that the volcano of Stromboli, 
which is oppofite, and in view of the town, though dif- 
tant about fifty miles, had fmoked lefs, and thrown up a 
fmaller quantity of inflamed matter during the earth¬ 
quakes than it had done for fome years before; and that 
flight (hocks (till continued to be felt. Sir William had 
foon a convincing proof that this laft information was 
true; for, fleeping that night in his boat, (called aMaf- 
tefe fperojiara) he was awakened with a fmar't (hock, 
which feemed to lift up the bottom of the boat, but was 
not attended with any fubterraneous noife. 
~ From Pizzo he palfed through a mod beautiful country 
to Monteleone. Here fir William had an opportunity of 
feeing many people who had been thrown down by the 
violence of the (hocks. Several peafants told him, that 
the motion of the earth was fo violent, that the heads 
of the larged trees almoft touched the ground from fide 
to fide ; that during a (hock, the horfes and oxen ex¬ 
tended their legs wide afunder, that they might not be 
thrown down ; and that they gave evident figns of being 
fenlible of the approach of each (hock.—From Monte¬ 
leone, Sir William defeended into the plain, having- 
pafled through many towns and villages which had been, 
more or lefs damaged, according to their vicinity to the 
plain. The town of Mileto, (landing in a bottom, was 
totally ruined, not a houfe being left (landing. At fome 
diftance he faw Soriano, and the noble Dominican con¬ 
vent, a heap of ruins. Pafting through the defolated 
town of St. Pietro, in his way to Rofarno, he had a dif- 
tant view of Sicily and the furnmit of Mount Etna, 
which then fent forth a confiderable fmoke. Juft before 
his arrival at Rofarno he palled ever the river Meflano 
or Metauro, on a ftrong timber-bridge, 700 palms long, 
built by the duke of Monteleone. From the cracks made 
in the banks, and in the bed of the river, by the earth¬ 
quake, it was quite feparated in one part ; and the level 
on which the piers were placed having been varioufly 
altered, the bridge had taken an undulated form, fo that 
the rail on each fide was curioufly fcolloped ; but the fe¬ 
parated parts having been joined again, it was then pafla. 
ble. The town of Rofarno, with the duke of Monte- 
leone’s palace there, was entirely deftroyed; but the 
walls x-emained about fix feet high, and were at that time 
fitting up as barracks. The only building that remained 
unhurt was the town gaol, in which were three notorious 
villains, who would probably have loft their lives if they 
had been at liberty. 
From Rofarno fir William proceeded to Laureana, 
where he was condudled to the place above deferibed, 
where the two tenements were faid to have exchanged 
fituations. In this neighbourhood were feveral cracks, 
none of them above a foot wide; but during the earth¬ 
quake they had opened very wide, and fwallowed up an 
ox, with near 100 goats. Pafting through the fame beau¬ 
tiful country to the town of Poliftene, fir William did 
not perceive a Angle houfe (landing. “ I travelled (fays 
he) four days in the plain, in the midft of fuch mifery as 
cannot be deferibed. The force of the earthquake there 
was fo great, that all the inhabitants of the towns were 
buried, alive or dead, in the ruins of their houfes in an 
iiiftant. The town of Poliftene was large, but ill fituated, 
between two rivers that were fubjedt to overflow. Two 
thoufand one hundred, out of 6000, loft their lives here 
on the fatal 5th of February.” At Cafal Nuova, the 
princefs Gerace Grimaldi, with 4000 of her fubjects, pe- 
riftied on tl e fame day by the explofion; for fuch it ap¬ 
pears to have been. Some who had been dug alive out 
of the ruins, faid that they had felt their houfes fairly 
lifted up, without having the lead previous notice. An 
inhabitant 
