Messina is the second largest city in Sicily, facing the Calabrian Peninsula across the Strait of Messina.
Messina has been riding the spring breeze of Italian industrial development in recent years, and it has done well. Although it cannot be compared with Palermo, which Italy mainly supports, but with its excellent geographical location and deep-water port, Messina has made great achievements in food processing and wine making in recent years.
There has been good development in manufacturing and ship maintenance.
The current war in the Balkans has not had a big impact on Messina. The residents of Messina still go to work and work.
When night falls, the residents of Messina rush home to finish their work for the day. The hustle and bustle of the city also subsides in the first half of the night, and gradually the residents of Messina fall into sleep.
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 peaceful at all. It is located on a stratigraphic fault zone. Since the time of the Roman Empire, geological disasters such as earthquakes and volcanoes have often erupted here, with the 1783 earthquake being the most serious.
The earthquake that erupted at that time caused volcanic eruptions and tsunamis, followed by floods caused by heavy rains, which immediately killed more than 30,000 residents of Messina. After the earthquake, people found that many buildings such as churches were rotating clockwise.
20 degrees to 3
0 degrees, and some buildings were swept away by huge waves. In the following two months, many aftershocks occurred in the local area. According to statistics at the time, this earthquake killed approximately 60,000 people. This major earthquake did not occur until
In October 1786, peace returned to the earth.
At 5:22 on December 28, 1908, Messina had not yet woken up from the night, and most people were still asleep. At this time, an energy equivalent to 5 million tons of TNT was flowing underground in the Strait of Messina.
surge.
"Boom!"
The huge energy caused the entire seabed of the Strait of Messina to shudder, and this shaking became larger and larger, and soon spread to the surrounding areas.
At this time, Messina was also shaking. The magnificent bell towers, churches, and theaters collapsed one after another, and almost all the buildings were reduced to rubble. Because they could not bear the force, they collapsed one after another, and people even screamed in their sleep.
It was buried without being sent out.
At this time, the remaining residents of Messina, who were awakened by the earthquake, immediately ran towards the open space in panic. Many of them were even naked. At this moment, no one was laughing at each other. Everyone alive was doing the same thing with a look of horror.
He ran to the surrounding open space.
At this time, they were standing in the open space, looking at the collapsed buildings around them, and no one felt good. Basically, they were all poor people who had lost their husbands, wives, children, and parents. Looking at the buried buildings around them, the pain came from the bottom of their hearts.
Rings.
But their pain was not over yet. People at the beach were surprised to find that the sea water actually receded, revealing the dark bottom of the sea. The boats that docked were sitting directly on it. Many fish and shrimps were unable 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 was making the noise, and everything was shrouded in the darkness of night.
But soon, the noise became louder and louder, as if there was a monster there. At this time, a black shadow slowly came over from the sea.
"No, it's a tsunami!"
At this time, a survivor let out a cry of horror, pointing at the black 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 higher ground in panic.
"Don't push me."
"My shoes."
"Sarah, where are you? Run quickly. The tsunami is coming!"
The panicked crowd ran to higher ground, but how could anyone outrun the tsunami? Before they could run far, a 12-meter-high wave surged over them. The breakwater had no effect at all and was directly submerged.
The surging waves destroyed everything, and the collapsed buildings were submerged in the sea water. The worst was the people who were trapped by the collapsed houses. The turbulent sea water poured directly in along the gaps, and the cries for help gradually subsided.
At this time, Messina was mostly submerged by the incoming waves, and many corpses were washed out from the ruins. A human tragedy appeared in front of the survivors.
Looking at the tragedy in front of them, many people were crying. They were crying for their lost relatives and for other people who were killed. Messina was almost destroyed. Everything was caused by this 7.5-magnitude earthquake.
of damage.
In addition to Messina, its surrounding villages were also hit by earthquakes and tsunamis, especially the fishing villages on the seaside, which suffered huge losses. Among them, a fishing village called Dias suffered the most heavy losses. All but one person in the village went out to look for sheep.
Except for the man, everyone else died in the earthquake and tsunami. After the man finally rushed back, he could only cry looking at the corpses in the ruins.
This earthquake occurred in the Strait of Messina. Although Messina suffered the most damage, it does not mean that other places are fine. Calabria is a town on the other side of the Strait, which also suffered from earthquakes and tsunamis.
Like Messina, the sleeping people did not expect this disaster at all, and their losses were not much less than Messina.
In addition to these two places, Palermo, Naples and other places have all suffered more or less losses. Some buildings have cracked and collapsed, and casualties have been recorded.
The earthquake was felt in Milan, Genoa, Turin, and Rome, as well as other cities in Europe.
At the Royal Palace in Rome, Carlo had just comforted his frightened wife and children when he saw Prime Minister Cruz rushing over.
"Your Majesty, according to the information from the Seismological Observatory, this earthquake came from the Strait of Messina. We just sent a telegram to Messina, but it couldn't be reached at all. Then we sent it to surrounding cities, and they said they all suffered earthquakes.
attacks, and coastal cities also suffered small-scale tsunamis.”
Prime Minister Cruz's words let Carlo know the seriousness of the matter. Messina did not call back, indicating that its communications were blocked and the losses were absolutely serious. And the Prime Minister came to seek support.
"Convene a cabinet meeting immediately. We need to send someone to Messina to understand the specific situation."
Following Carlo's order, the cabinet ministers quickly rushed to the palace. At the same time, information about the damage suffered in the surrounding area was continuously sent to Rome via radio waves, and Carlo also learned about the specific situation in the surrounding area.
Catania (the third largest city in Sicily) sent a telegram saying that they suffered an earthquake and tsunami, and that the loss of personnel and property was still being counted, but it was estimated that the loss of people would exceed 1,000 people and the property would exceed 100 million.
Canistero (the second largest city in Calabria) sent a telegram saying that they were hit by an earthquake and tsunami. The loss of people and property is being counted, but it is estimated that the loss of people is over 500, and the loss of property is around 800.
More than 10 million lire.
Palermo sent a telegram saying that they were also hit by the earthquake, which caused damage to some houses with poor earthquake resistance. Hundreds of casualties have been reported, and property losses amounted to about 50 million lire. Major factories in Palermo have been inspected
, there is no damage, it can operate normally, you just need to appease the workers and you can continue working.
A telegram came from Naples saying...
Catanzaro sent a telegram saying...
…
As local governments sent calls to report the damage, Carlo and government ministers quickly estimated the damage. Of course, the most important thing was that the damage information in Messina, the epicenter of the earthquake, had not yet been obtained, so the specific damage situation had to wait.
However, disaster statistics can wait, but disaster relief cannot wait.
"Everyone, the current situation in Messina is unclear. We need to send capable officials to Messina to organize disaster relief."
Carlo didn't wait for anyone else to speak this time and spoke first.
"No problem, Your Majesty, our government will immediately send people to Messina to organize disaster relief."
Prime Minister Cruz spoke with a serious expression. He received news from all sides, letting the Prime Minister know that the damage caused by the earthquake was not small, and that he, the Prime Minister, has a heavy burden.
"The dispatched personnel asked Alitalia's airship to transport it there, and also brought some medicine tents and other things."
After giving advice to the Prime Minister, Carlo continued. "Next, the Ministry of the Interior immediately mobilized disaster relief supplies, tents, rain boots, food, medicine digging machines, water purification systems, etc. from various places, and immediately tallied them and transferred them to Messina."
The new Interior Minister Sergi Bruguera, who was named by Carlo, immediately agreed. "Your Majesty, I will arrange for people to count and draw points."
After receiving the answer from the Minister of the Interior, Carlo continued to name the army: "In addition to the army, the army immediately sent troops to Messina. In addition, the surrounding disaster-stricken areas need to send personnel. 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 provide supplies for disaster relief. Tents, excavation equipment, water purification equipment, and canned military rations all need to be brought into Messina."
Carlo then continued to name other ministers, all of whom had requests for disaster relief. Tasks such as publicizing disaster relief, organizing volunteer rescues, donating money and materials, etc. were all assigned to each person one by one.
The meeting didn't last long, and all the ministers felt a little strange after the meeting, because the king was making requests alone during the entire meeting, and they were like subordinates, each leading their own tasks. There was no discussion in the middle.
There was no argument, which was totally unaccustomed.
In addition, this disaster relief is also different from the current European countries. There is always a sense of government responsibility, taking care of everything and doing everything, and it has the meaning of military control.
Although it feels weird, no one dares to be careless. Over the years, everyone has already seen clearly that the king's strict orders must be obeyed or else their political careers will end. We are all people who are dedicated to the country, how can we accept that the kingdom does not want their dedication?
Woolen cloth?
Therefore, the rescue work had already started on the day of the earthquake.
