22
EARTHQUAKES AT ALEPPO.
Aleppo, one of the most beautiful citics of ⟨the⟩ Turkish cmpire, containing 40,000 houses ⟨and⟩ 200,000 inhabitants, has been visited by an ⟨earthquake⟩ resembling those which laid waste Lisbon and ⟨Cumbria⟩, in the last century.
The first and most severe shock occurred on ⟨the⟩ 13th of August, 1822, about ten in the evening, ⟨and⟩ instantly buried thousands of the inhabitants ⟨under⟩ the ruins of their clegant mansions of stone, some which deserve the name of palaces. Several ⟨other⟩ shocks succeeded, and even on the 16th, shocks ⟨were⟩ still experienced, some of which were sevcre. ⟨Two⟩ thirds of the houses of this populous city are in ⟨ruins⟩ and along with them an immense quantity of ⟨valuable⟩ goods of all kinds from Persia and India ⟨have⟩ been destroyed.
According to the first accounts of this event, ⟨while⟩ through alarm may have been exagerated, the ⟨number⟩ of the sufferers amounts to from 25 to ⟨30,000.⟩ Among thcm is one of the best men in the city, ⟨the⟩ Imperial Consul-General, the Chevalier Esdras V Piecotto.—Having escaped the danger of being ⟨buried⟩ under the ruins of his own house he hastened ⟨with⟩ some of his family towards the gate of the city; ⟨but⟩ as he was passing a Khan, a new shock occurred, ⟨and⟩ a wall fell down, which buried him and those ⟨with⟩ him. Tartars who have arrived at ⟨Constantinople⟩ from Damascus, report that they saw the whole ⟨population⟩ of Aleppo encamped in the environs. ⟨They⟩ state that scveral other towns in the Pachalat Aleppo and Tripoli, particularly Antioch and La(illegible text)dicea, have been destroyed by this carthquake. ⟨The⟩ captain of a French ship also has reported that ⟨two⟩ rocks, at the time of the earthquake, had risen ⟨from⟩ the sea in the ncighbourhood of Cyprus, which is ⟨at⟩ most of the same latitude as Aleppo.
