ITALY SILVER ORIGINAL 1908 MESSINA EARTHQUAKE MEDAL (6981)

December 28, 1908 from about 5:20 to 5:21 am an earthquake of 7.2 rs occurred centered on the city of Messina, in Sicilly. Reggio Callabria on the Italian mainland also suffered heavy damage.

 The ground shook for some 30 to 40 seconds, and the destruction was felt within a 300 km radius. Moments after the earthquake, a 40-foot (12 m) tsunami struck nearby coasts causing even more devastation. 93% of structures in Messina were destroyed and some 70,000 residents were killed. Rescuers searched through the rubble for weeks, and whole families were still being pulled out alive days later, but thousands remained buried there. Buildings in the area had not been constructed for earthquake resistance, having heavy roofs and vulnerable foundations.

Malta also suffered from an earth tremor and was then hit by a tidal wave caused by the Messina earthquake. The King of Italy sought help from Britain and a Field Ambulance section of RAMC (Royal Army Medical Corps) with two members of the QAIMNS (Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service) and a Stationary Hospital were transported to Messina in Sicily by the Royal Navy. They took with them ten days supplies and rations.

Once in Sicily the RAMC and the Queen Alexandra's Sisters cared for survivors of the Earthquake on board HMS Minerva and HMS Duncan which were set up as dressing stations. A Stationary Hospital was set up in nearby Catona in what was a market place on the 2 January 1909. The QAs worked with two volunteer nurses from Malta until the 15 January 1909 when all four nurses returned to Malta. There is more written about the Messina Sicily Earthquake 1908 in the book Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps (Famous Regts. S) by Juliet Piggott..