The earth tried to swallow the coastal city of Messina, Sicily, in 1908.
A quake came first. The ground rocked and then rotated, as if the city were circling a drain. The sea receded and returned in waves to drench the rubble. Ninety percent of the city’s buildings crumbled, and about 75,000 people were killed — nearly half the city’s population. Survivors, many naked after fleeing their beds, searched for others buried under debris. Then they processed through the streets carrying pictures of saints.
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