Catholic Studies Presents Great Earthquake 2009

NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release August 11, 2009 Alicia Steger 516.572.9634 e-mail: alicia.steger@ncc.edu

The Nassau Community College Center for Catholic Studies Presents "Catholics Confront the Challenge of the Great (Messina) Earthquake:Europe’s Worst Natural Disaster"

September 25, 2009

Garden City, NY  The Nassau Community College Center for Catholic Studies invites the community to its upcoming program Catholics Confront the Challenge of the Great (Messina) Earthquake: Europe's Worst Natural Disaster. The program will take place on Friday, September 25 at 7:30 p.m. in the College Center Building.

The Messina earthquake occurred on December 28, 1908. Centered in southern Italy in the Messina Strait Ñ which separates Sicily from Calabria the quake's magnitude equaled a 7.5 by today's Richter scale. Moments after the quake's first jolt, a devastating tsunami formed, causing 40-foot waves to crash down on dozens of coastal cities. The death toll from the Messina earthquake throughout Italy was estimated at nearly 200,000. During his presentation, Dr. Salvatore LaGumina, Director of the NCC Center for Italian American Studies, former president of the American Italian Historical Association and member of the Society of Catholic Social Scientists, will speak about the disaster and the reaction to it.

Catholics Confront the Challenge of the Great (Messina) Earthquake: Europe's Worst Natural Disaster, which is co-sponsored by the NCC Center for Catholic Studies and the New York Council for the Humanities, is free and open to the public, but requires both registration and a parking permit. To register and receive a permit, contact the NCC Office of Lifelong Learning at 516.572.7472.

 

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