Fresh water wherewith these Mountains do abound have lost their clearness and have both a sulphurous smell and taste The Inhabitants of Furla were reckoned to be near a thousand Souls A Town much greater than any of the three last Sciorti scituated in a pleasant Valley and a rich Soyl where the best Rock-salt is digg'd was likewise totally demolish'd by the shake of the 11 th and now nothing but vast heaps of Rubbish and which is strange a Church belonging to a Benedictine Nunnery yet intire are to be seen where Sciorti once stood We know of none of the Inhabitants that have sav'd themselves from this Calamity and they are reckoned to amount to two thousand Souls The same Fate befel Militello no inconsiderable Town whereof the Inhabitants were esteemed pretty rich by the means of one of the most considerable Manufacturies of Silk that was in Sicily It 's probable this place was destroy'd before the shake of the 11 th for the Countrey-people who dwell on the Neighbouring Ridge of Mountains do affirm that it was not to be seen upon the 11 th in the Morning But at what precise time it was swallowed up they cannot tell being that for three days before they could not see so far as Militello by reason of a thick Fog which continued from Twelve a Clock of the 8 th day till the Morning of the 11 th It 's scarce to be imagined what a surprising Change this place has undergone For a considerable part of the Mountain that lay on the North-side of the Town has been through the violence of the Earthquake torn asunder and the one half has overwhelm'd the Town There being a vast Chasma now to be seen betwixt it and the other part of the Mountain that remain'd still in its first posture Militello might probably contain about 6000 people whereof no one is left to give Tidings how its Calamity came about Luochela had not altogether so bad a Fate as the former This place felt the shake of the 9 th very severely insomuch that a great part of the Houses fell by it The Inhabitants over and above this and some former shakes had another Prognostick of the Ruin that was coming on the place which influenced a considerable number of them to leave the Town upon the 9 th at night There was an old Castle which stood upon a rising ground some two miles from Luochela said to have been built by the Romans in the time of the Punick War This Castle was in the view of the People of Luochela swallowed up in a moment and no remaining Vestige was to be seen where it stood but instead thereof there gush'd up a prodigious quantity of Waters which in a few hours made up a very considerable Lake where the Castle had stood So that it is to the affirightful view of this Castle 's being overturn'd that more than the half of the People of the Town owe their safety as having fled the Town upon sight thereof The rest of the Town and Inhabitants were utterly destroy'd on the 11 th and now there remains nothing but vast heaps of Rubbish where the Town formerly stood Luochela might probably contain two thousand people whereof near the half are destroyed Palonia a very pretty little Town very well built and endowed with one of the beautifullest Churches in the whole Island felt several shakes of which those of the 9 th and 11 th were the most terrible The Church was shattered in a thousand places and the Dome was on the 11 th thrown down which broke the High Altar to pieces and crush'd to death some 300 people with the Priest that was saying Mass There was little other damage done in Palonia most of the People having betaken themselves to the Fields upon the Accident that befel the Dome of the Church So that the loss has not been so great neither in the fall of Houses nor death of people in Palonia as it was in most other Towns about it Buchino a considerable Village escaped very near as well as the Town of Palonia most of the Houses being thrown down but scarce any of the people kill'd though some much bruised Scodia a Burgh about the bigness of the other was greatly shaken on the 11 th and about 150 people kill'd by the fall of the Church in the time of Mass Within a mile of this Village there was a Lake about two miles about and very deep The shake of the 9 th was seen clearly to occasion the lessening of the Water of the Lake so that it was dry for some paces round the Banks But so strange was the effect of the shake of the 11 th upon this Lake that near the midst of it there opened a large Casma which swallowed up all the remaining Water and left the whole Channel dry Land which continues so Another Village called Chivramonte had yet a worse Fate The shake of the 9 th shattered the Houses but that of the 11 th overturn'd them all together and buried the Inhabitants in their Ruins which were computed to be between three and four Hundred Monterusso was considerably shaken both on the 11 th and 9 th but the only loss of the People was of about 200 that fled into the Castle standing upon an Eminence for shelter who were with the Castle it self buried in the Ground and the place where it stood is now a Pool of Water of a brinish Taste The Beautiful Town of Vizzini underwent a Fortune like that of Catanea Scarce any Place seem'd more secure from such Accidents than it for it lay on a rising Hill made up of nothing but hardest Stones of the nature of Marble yet on the 9 th and some days before it felt several shakes which did no great damage by reason of the Buildings being all of Stone However the Inhabitants began to fear the worst and most of the People of Quality and Fashion went out of Town and setled themselves in Tents upon the Hill above the Town But thinking the hazard was over as finding no shakes all the 10 th they return'd home on the 11 th in the Morning and within some Hours thereafter they and the Town were swallowed up The Inhabitants were reckoned to amount to 3500 Souls The large Village of Modica containing about 1400 People was so suddenly swallowed up on the 9 th that no one Person escap'd and it was indeed the only Place of the whole Island that received not its full Ruin by the shake of the 11 th This was not the first time that Modica has been laid in heaps by Earthquakes for within these Hundred years it has twice changed its Seat though till now the People were all so happy as to save themselves and to seek for new Seats Within two Miles of this Place there runs a small River along a very narrow but fruitful Valley which in some places admits of high Cataracts through the great inequality of the Channel By the shake
of the 11 th there is a Hill thrown over or rather athwart one of these Cataracts for some twenty paces breadth so that in that place the River is not to be seen but creeps under the Hill and comes out again in its own ordinary Channel below The same Accident has happened to several Rivulets in Sicily the Earth being torn from the Brink and thrown over the Rivulet as it were in the form of a Vault or natural Bridge The Village Bisenti felt all the shakes that happened but received no other damage than the fall of some of the Houses and the Bruising to Death of about a Hundred Persons Francofonte a very pretty Town and well Inhabited but Built most of Timber received little damage by the Earthquake though it shook down some Houses but what the Earthquake did not the Lightning and Thunder did For never was there seen so terrible a Storm of both these last than Francofonte felt for three days together The Spire of the Steeple which was built of Wood and covered with Lead was burnt down and the Nunnery of the Carmelites was almost utterly destroyed and that so suddenly that five of the Nuns was stifled to Death in their Beds If the Wind had been high as it was not certainly the whole Town had been burnt to Ashes but by reason of the Calmness of the Wind and the Care of the Inhabitants there were not above twelve or fourteen Houses burnt Carlontini a Town of good Trade and very well Inhabited was greatly shaken on the 9 th several Houses being thrown down and the People buried in their Ruins On the 10 th the Bishop and Magistrates exhorred the Inhabitants to remove out of the Town to the Fields for even then there was some small tremblings of the Earth felt almost every half Hour The People began to get out of Town on the 10 th about Four a Clock in the Afternoon and most were gone with the best things they could carry with them when the shake of the 11 th overturn'd the whole Town in a Moment with what remain'd of the Inhabitants The Place might contain about 4000 People and it 's thought about a sixth part have perish'd in the Earthquake There scarce can be found in any part of the World a more Beautiful Town than Ragusa It s Scituation Buildings Churches Monasteries and Territories about it combine to make it a sort of Terrestrial Paradise It felt a great many small shakings on the 8 th with a mighty Tempest of Lightning and Thunder The shake of the 9 th did some but no great hurt but that of the 11 th overturn'd the Town-house a very Superb Edifice two Churches and a great many Houses One Street the biggest of the Town and Inhabited by the best Merchants and Tradesmen of the Place was overwhelm'd in less than the Second of a Minute the Earth sinking down and leaving a vast Casma where the Street was One of the Churches sunk after the manner the Street had done but the other fell down It 's not yet known how many People perished in Ragusa but the least Calculation has been made of them amounts to 8000 Souls of whom the Citizens of the best Quality make up a great part of the number There is to be seen from the Brink of this Casma I mentioned the Tops of some of the Houses a great way below the Superfice of the ground and out of this Cavity there comes a Sulphurous Smell like to choak any body that comes near it One of the Churches that are Ruin'd was that of Sancta Barbara Famous through all Sicily for the Miracles done at the Shrine of that Saint and in which was some of the best Sculpture especially that of the Altar-piece that could be seen in any place of the Christian World The Town of Scodia felt the shakes of the 9 th and 11 th as fiercely as any Yet which was strange the Town it self received no damage but the Bishop's Palace a very Beautiful and new Building was overturn'd on the 9 th and about Twenty four Persons perish'd in its Ruins The Bishop had not gone out but an Hour before having held a Meeting of his Diocess in the Chappel of his Palace in the Morning so that he and they were all sav'd Specafurno a Town of a considerable bigness lying on the South side of a Hill all planted with Vineyards and very well Inhabited fell under the common Calamity The shake of the 9 th did it but little hurt only the Convent of the Capuchins was destroyed but all the 10 th from Morning till Night there was never heard so violent a Storm of Thunder and Lightning as if Heaven and Earth had been mixing together By the Lightning the Town-house a very Regular Building was burnt down to the Ground with several other Houses Some few of the Inhabitants fled out of the Town on the 10 th at Night and so escaped the Destruction that befel the rest upon the 11 th That shake brought over the whole Town in a Moments time and there now remains nothing but vast heaps of Rubbish where Specafurno stood To the South side of the Town about a Mile there lyes a very pleasant fresh-Water Lake abounding in Fish which now is almost all dry Land only what Water remains in one end of it is of a Brinish Taste and of a Black Colour the Fish being all dead on the Shore It 's remark'd by the Peasants that live on the Hills about this Town that the Thunder and Lightning which happened on the 10 th has so far burnt all the Vines that they expect no Grapes to grow on them next Year Not only so but they smell a sort of Sulphurous Smell and feel a kind of a Bituminous Dew upon the Ground all thereabout The People that perish'd in Specafurno are computed to amount to 3500 at least there being about 300 only that sav'd themselves by a timely flight the day before Sicily could not brag of a better-built Town and a Place of better Trade considering its distance from the Sea than the Town of Scichito was This Place seem'd to be design'd by Nature to fall by an Earthquake for within these Fifty Years it has been in hazard Eight times Five Years ago it had a very considerable shake which indamaged several of the Houses and overturn'd a Church Dedicated to St. Roch. But all this was nothing to what befel it in this last Earthquake The trembling of the Earth began to be felt on the 8 th at Night and within twenty four Hours time there succeeded above twenty shakes one after another the last still exceeding the first in violence At last the shake of the 11 th instead of overturning the Town as in most other Places the Earth here sunk down and in less than two Moments the Town vanish'd our of sight In its room there is now a stinking Pool of Water where the Dome of the Church of St. Stephen
no other Narrative but what People at a distance and in a hurry themselves for fear of sinking into the same Ruin have been able to give us This Earthquake diffus'd it self into all these three districts or divisions into which the Island of Sicily is ordinarily divided which are 1. Valli di Noto comprehending principally the Eastern parts of the Island 2. Mazaro containing the Western and Southern Parts And 3. Mono which confines it self to the North and North-East Parts of the Island The greatest shaking reach'd from Mount Aetna all along to Cape Passaro the Pachmus of the Ancients In all this vast Tract of Land nothing stood the shock but all fell under the weight of a general Ruin It was on the 7 th of January 1693. about Ten at Night that Mount Aetna began to utter those hideous Roarings which seldom but usher in some Tragedy of the Nature of what followed Those loud Bellowings continued till the 9 th when about Twelve a Clock they began to cease or rather fall lower Within an Hour after the Inhabitants of Catanea which was the next Town to the Mountain began to perceive a shaking under them about three Minutes together This did little other hurt than affright the people and give them fears of some further hurt It was remarkable that during the three Minutes this shake continued and an Hour before there was not the least noise heard from Mount Aetna But within less than a Minute after the shake was over not only did the noise redouble infinitely more terrible than it had been before but the whole Top of the Mountain appear'd all in Flames which the Wind blowing from the Westward carried with it a vast quantity of Burnt Ashes which have always been found to be the ordinary attendants of those Flamy Irruptions It is not certain how far this shake of the 9 th diffus'd it self but 't is probable that more or less of it was felt through most of the South Parts of this Island For the Inhabitants of the Cities of Mineo Palaonia Ragosa and the Town of Licodia felt all of them the fame shake and at the same very Minute of the day as Catanea had done All this was but the Forerunner of the horridest shake of all which fell out on the 11 th This affected the whole Island but very unequally And by the exactest computation can be made the whole period of it lasted not above Six Minutes from Messina Northwards to Cape Coio the farthest point of Sicily to the South Catanea is thought to have been the first that fell under the weight of this heavy Calamity This City is as Ancient as most in Sicily seated in a pleasant and rich Soil inhabited by several of the Gentry thereabouts endowed with an University and containing about Twenty Four Thousand Souls was sunk out of sight in a Moment There happen'd some Fisher-boats to be at that time in the Bay that lyes South of the Town and within a Leagues distance who give an Account That they saw the City sink down with the noise as it were of some Thousand Pieces of Great Ordnance discharged all at once After it was thus vanished out of their sight the Fishermen say That some Minutes thereafter to the Eastward near where the City stood there rose up a little Mountain which lifting it self up several times a considerable heighth above the ordinary level of the ground thereabout sunk at last likewise out of their sight The Fishermen do likewise declare That during all this horrid Tragedy which they saw besal the City Catanea they themselves were every Moment expecting to be swallowed up in the Bay by reason of the strange violent Agitations of the Sea and scarce was this heaving up of the imaginary Mountain on the Southside of Catanea over but they felt the Sea Calm It 's thought there has not escaped of the Inhabitants of Catanea above Two Thousand of all Those that escap'd came away either after the shaking of the 9 th or the Morning of the 11 th And the hideous roaring of Mount Aetna which uses to be the Forerunner of some Calamity on that side gave them warning to flee But they were the better sort of People only that had the opportunity to make so happy an escape the rest falling under the Universal Ruin In the place where Catanea stood appears now at a distance a great Lake with some great heaps of Rubbish appearing here and there above the Water I had almost forgot one Circumstance very remarkable which the Fishermen that were in the Bay of Catanea at the time of this last shake do positively affirm they say That both before and some Minutes after the Earthquake happened Mount Aetna appear'd more than ever in Flames and the noise was greater than it had been since its first Irruption of the 7 th But a few Minutes after Catanea was swallowed up there was neither Flames to be seen nor the least noise to be heard for the space of Five or Six Hours together And then the Mountain began of new again to roar and throw out Flames more duskish and smoaky than at any time before The same shake that utterly destroyed Catanea did lay in heaps more than the half of Saragosa the Ancient Syracusa This City once the greatest of Sicily and if we will believe some Ancient Historians particularly Strabo the largest once in the World may contend with any in Europe for Antiquity having been the Seat for a great many Ages of a flourishing Commonwealth and the Scene of a great many Warlike Actions It retain'd still some marks of its Ancient Greatness and with the Advantages of a Rich Soil and pleasant Scituation and a strong Castle to defend it might contain about 16000 People This Ancient City suffered much by the shake of the 9 th most of the best Buildings and the greatest part of the Castle being rent in several places Upon the 10 th at Night it underwent another considerable shake with a mighty Tempest of Wind so that the great Bell in one of its Churches was heard several times to make a sound through the violent trembling of the Steeple A great many were kill'd by the fall of Houses the time this shake and Tempest happened and most that were able or had the opportunity fled out of Town that Night which was the occasion of their Safety But the shake of the 11 th brought with it a sudden and inevitable Destruction throwing down in a Moment more than two parts of three of the whole City and burying in its Rubbish above four parts of five of the People that were left The least Computation that can be made of the loss of the Inhabitants of it is above 7000 the rest escaping as I have said the Night before and some Hundreds were dig'd out of the Ruins alive but lame and bruis'd so that few of them its thought will recover Most of the Magistrates and People of best Fashion ran
into the great Church for shelter where they met with Death by the fall of the Stone Roof and the Steeple both together The City of Noto had yet a worse Fate than Syracusa scarce any part of it now standing This Place is one of the Ancientest of Sicily and once contended for the preheminence with Syracusa it self It is scituate on a very high Rock almost inaccessable on all sides but by one narrow passage having under the Cape Passan one of the best and largest Harbours in the whole Island and being indeed the Key of Sicily on that side The mighty hardness of the Rock on which Noto stood seem'd to secure it from the hazard of Earthquakes but it felt that shake of the 9 th with more violence than any other place of the Island That of the 11 th laid it in a Moment in heaps the manner whereof we cannot attain by reason none of the Inhabitants are left but some few that left the Place on the 9 th There is seen yet standing a part of the Church of a Benedictine Monastery and scarce any more of the whole Town the Inhabitants being computed about Seven Thousand Souls Augusta a City well scituated having a large Prospect into the Sea and adorned with very large and safe Harbours a place of good Trade for Corn This Place suffer'd considerably by the shake of the 9 th many of the Inhabitants to the number of about 600. were bruis'd to Death with the fall of the Houses On the 10 th there was another shake which obliged most of the People of Note to betake themselves to the Castle for their Security which prov'd as unlucky to them as the great Church had been to them of Syracusa for there happening great flashes of Lightning which seem'd to set the whole Heavens afire one of them fell on the Magazine of Powder kept there and blew up the Castle and all the People within amounting to about 1100. The shake on the 11 th put an end to the Catastrophe by overturning the Town and burying the rest of the Inhabitants in it so that there scarce remains any thing of the Ancient Augusta but the Name The Inhabitants were reckoned near 6000 of whom we have Account of none left Lentini the Ancient Leontium famous for the beautiful Lake on which it stood a place of about 3000 Families and a place of tolerable Trade by Fishing and Salt Mines underwent the misfortune of its Neighbour and ancient Rival Syracusa The shake of the 11 th reduc'd it to Ashes and it s not known if any of the Inhabitants be saved There is now to be seen several great heaps of Earth in the Lake where there was none before And the Peasants who live on the other side opposite to the place where Lentini stood have reported That since this Earthquake the Lake which was formerly clear and Limpid and wonderfully stor'd with all variety of Fish is now become brackish and of a salt and bitumenous taste and vast number of Fish are found every day dead upon the Shore Some better Fate had Calatgirone a pretty Town containing above 7000 People and well built most of hewn Stone The shake of the 9 th was very little perceptible there and that of the 11 th was much less than any where within some miles of it It was not so little but that it overturn'd about the 5 th part of the Town and two Monasteries and is thought destroy'd in all no fewer than 2000 Souls Minco felt both the shakes of the 9 th and 11 th and there seem'd but little difference betwixt the violence of either or the damage each did At both times several Houses and a pretty large Church was overturn'd and its thought near 4000 of the Inhabitants are perished It was remarkable That the time of the shake of the 9 th the Heavens about this Town were very serene scarce a Cloud appearing above the Horizon But that of the 11 th was attended with a mighty storm of Thunder Lightning and Hail which lasted above six hours together Monreal commonly call'd Morreal received some damage in its buildings and some few of the Inhabitants perished by their fall The shake of the 11 th did greatly shatter the Cathedral Church which is indeed one of the beautiful Structures in the World The Dome which stands above the High Altar fell and crush'd in pieces four curious Pillars of Brass with several Statues of Saints of as good Workmanship as any in Christendom Neither was the Archbishop's Palace free it being set on fire by Lightning and a considerable part of it burnt down Palermo the Seat of the Viceroy felt little or nothing of the shake of the 9 th though several small shakings they had had some days before But that of the 11 th was almost as terrible as in any other place except Catanea Syracusa and Augusta A great many Houses were shattered and some fell to the ground The Cathedral suffered extremely in its Roof and a Church belonging to the Carmelite Monastery was totally destroy'd The Vice-Roy with all his Family and the Archbishop retir'd aboard the Galleys in the Harbour where by the violent motion of the Water they expected every moment to be swallowed up Some part of the great Mole built of Stone that secures the Port being shattered within a few foot of their Gally It 's said there were not above 100 people in all kill'd at Palermo and those mostly that liv'd in a Subburb built of Wood. The Town of Pasceni it 's not known whether the shake of the 9 th or 11 th destroyed it It was a pretty place consisting of about two hundred Families and those thought the richest of any little Town of Sicily by reason of the goodness of its Wine and Silk exported thence to the Sea in considerable quantitites Now there is not one single House left standing nor one single person sav'd A new Lake takes up now that spacious Valley on the East-side of the Town which was all hitherto covered with the best of Vines and the Water thereof is of a brackish colour and a bitumenous taste Patuzolo a bigger place than Pasceni though not so happily scituated nor so rich fell under the same Fate with it None of the Inhabitants for any thing is yet known were sav'd the number of which might probably amount to about 1000 people at least Furla a Town about the bigness of Pasceni and seated on a rising Hill amidst Quarries of Stone much of the nature of Marble was nothing more fortunate we having no other account of its Ruin but what those that saw it at a distance could give It may be worthy of Remark That in several parts of the Mountain about Furla the Rocks which formerly were almost as white as Genoa Marble in the chinks that the Earthquake made among them the Stones are now of a burnt Colour as if Fire and Powder had been us'd to rent them asunder The Fountains of