A Glimpse into the Seismicity of the Ionian Islands Between 1658 and 1664 - Historical Seismology: Interdisciplinary Studies of Past and Recent Earthquakes - page 54

source, but as for the 1658 event it is possible to guess that he took the information
from the Theatrum Europaeum (1667).
As in the case of the 1658 earthquake, are the Venetian governors who supply
us with new and valuable information on this sequence of earthquakes (Fig. 5, oval
framed documents, and Table 2).
Francesco Valier, Provveditore in Kefallinia, writes three dispatches between 21
May and 25 May. The 21 May dispatch was not found in the same file where the 24
and 25 May dispatches are stored today (ASVe, 1660b, d), though it is referred to by
Valier himself in his dispatch of 25 May (15 May S.V.) (ASVe, 1660d) and by Alvise
Civran, Provveditore Generale alle Isole del Levante , in his 25 May dispatch (ASVe,
1660c). The surviving documents inform us that the first earthquake occurred on 21
May, around midnight (“between 3 and 4 hours of the night”, according to the Italian
style of time counting) and lasted one Ave Maria . Francesco Valier is in Argostolion
and writes that “I barely had the time to jump out of the bed in my night-shirt and
run outside, and still being on the stairs a part of a wall fell near me, but for God's
grace I did not injure myself” (ASVe, 1660b). Some cracks opened in the walls of
the Fortress of Agios Georgios, and a great number of houses and whole villages
were seriously damaged; many of the buildings still standing were in such a bad
shape, that Valier says that they could not resist a second shock. There were some
deads and many injured people. The second shock occurred on 25 May, at about
1 a.m. (“around 5 hours of the night”); it lasted one Credo and was soon followed
by another shock lasting one Ave Maria . Valier adds also (ASVe, 1660d) that most
people were safe because they were staying outside since the previous event, afraid
of the continuous trembling of the earth.
As for the affected places (Fig. 6), the buildings inside the Fortress of Agios
Georgios suffered serious damage; there was no shelter for soldiers, and accord-
ing to Valier the damage amounted to hundred of thousands of ducati , in the cur-
rency of the Republic of Venice. The most damaged settlements were Lixourion
and Argostolion; the dispatch written from Zakynthos on 25 May by Alvise Civran
(ASVe, 1660c) also mentions a place called Livatho , today Livadhion; he will have
the opportunity to visit Kefallinia in August only, as he recalls in a later dispatch
(ASVe, 1661a).
The earthquakes caused many difficulties to the inhabitants of the damaged area,
the richest of the island: windmills and bakeries could not work, an early ripen uve
passe harvest was in danger, because roofs that were used to dry the fruits were
out of order (ASVe, 1660e). Horses and collecting pioneers could not be accom-
plished (ASVe, 1660f) and the Community of Kefallinia had instead to levy a new
tax on grapes and wine selling (ASVe, 1660g, h). Shocks were still continuing at the
beginning of July (ASVe, 1660f).
The coeval documents do not mention effects in Zakynthos (ASVe, 1660-1662)
nor in Kerkyra (ASVe, 1657-1661).
Two years later, in May 1662, Francesco Mocenigo, Provveditore Generale ,vis-
ited Kefallinia. On that occasion he was forwarded a plea by Prior Giacomo Achielli,
responsible for the Church and Monastery of San Nicol o and Santa Maria della
Vittoria, run according to the Latin rite and directly depending on Venice (ASVe,