Maria, situated in that
quarter, was, during the general uplifting of the land, raised to
nearly three times the height of any other part of the coast.
The different resistance offered by the walls, according to their
direction, was well exemplified in the case of the Cathedral. The
side which fronted the north-east presented a grand pile of ruins,
in the midst of which door-cases and masses of timber stood up, as
if floating in a stream. Some of the angular blocks of brickwork
were of great dimensions; and they were rolled to a distance on the
level plaza, like fragments of rock at the base of some high
mountain. The side walls (running south-west and north-east),
though exceedingly fractured, yet remained standing; but the vast
buttresses (at right angles to them, and therefore parallel to the
walls that fell) were in many cases cut clean off, as if by a
chisel, and hurled to the ground. Some square ornaments on the
coping of these same walls were moved by the earthquake into a
diagonal position. A similar circumstance was observed after an
earthquake at Valparaiso, Calabria, and other places, including
some of the ancient Greek temples. (14/1. M. Arago in "L'Institut"
1839 page 337.
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