EARTHQUAKES, IN CALABRIA AND SICILY, IN 1783.
THE year, 1783 was fatally marked by the desolation of some of the most fertile, most beautiful, and most celebrated provinces of Europe, the two Calabrias, with a part of Sicily, were ⟨doomed⟩ to be a scene of the most tremenduous, ⟨and⟩ the most fatal earthquakes that ever were ⟨known⟩, even in those volcanic regions. The first ⟨shock⟩ happened about noon, on the fifth of February, and was so violent as to involve almost the ⟨whole⟩ of Calabria in ruin. This was but the commencement of a succession of earthquakes, which ⟨beginning⟩ from the city of Amantea, on the coast ⟨of⟩ the Tyrrhene sea, proceeded along the western ⟨coast⟩ to Cape Spartivento, and up the eastern as far as Cape D'Alice; during the whole of which ⟨space⟩ not a town was left undestroyed.
During two years repeated shocks continued to ⟨agitate⟩ the affrighted minds of the inhabitants of ⟨Calabria⟩ and Sicily, but the principal mischiefs ⟨arose⟩ in the months of February and March in the ⟨last⟩ year. For several months the earth ⟨continued⟩ in an unceasing tremor, which at certain ⟨intervals⟩ increased to violent shocks, some of which ⟨were⟩ beyond description dreadful. These shocks ⟨were⟩ sometimes horizontal, whirling like a vortex, and sometimes by pulsations, or beating from the ⟨bottom⟩ upwards, and were at times so violent that ⟨the⟩ heads of the largest trees almost touched the ⟨ground⟩ on either side. The rains, during a great ⟨part⟩ of the time, were continual and violent, often accompanied with lightning, and furious gusts ⟨of⟩ wind. All that part of Calabria, which lay ⟨between⟩ the 38th and 39th degrees assumed a new
