Page 3 - Brick Structures News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Get around? >> reporter: to tell you where we are, we had pulled into town and began to see some of that destruction pretty much everywhere we turned there were downed trees, some damaged homes. couldn't get all the way in because we wanted to come out and alert our news desk that we had made it into town. and i explained the cell phone service here is virtually nonexistent. we made it to the outskirts of town by the freeway. we're about to go in and see more damage. our cameraman is saying multiple city blocks are decimated. brick structures collapsed. we heard earlier reports of people trapp...

Kelly, what more can you tell us about what's happening there? >> desperate situation, louis, search and rescue operations are unde way at this hour, it's early evening and the death toll is still going up. when you look at the pictures, you can understand why. dozens of collapsed buildings in this area, thousands of rescuers are digging through what's left of the wooden brick structures. they have massive pieces of debris to move and don't have the equipment in many cases to move it. you have villagers, soldiers, police officers, all working to research the victims. so far as many as 97 dead,...

>> reporter: it was a most catastrophic earthquake ever to hit anyplace east of the mississippi, in all of u.s. history. struck charleston with a ferocious roar. >> reporter: author and researcher richard describes the horror that filled the steamy charleston air on august 31st, 1886. an estimated 7.3 magnitude earthquake devastated this charming southern city. >> two-thirds of all the brick structures in charleston were either destroyed or severely damaged. >> reporter: and it was felt from montreal to nebraska, cuba to bermuda. so this is the church building. this was severely damaged in the...

August 31st, 1886. an estimated 7.3 magnitude quake devastated this charming southern city. >> two-thirds of all the brick structures in charleston were either destroyed or severely damaged. >> reporter: and it was felt from montreal to nebraska, cuba to bermuda. so this is the church building. and this was severely damaged in the earthquake? >> this was one of the most magnificent churches. the entire bell tower separated with a huge crack through the side of the building. >> reporter: amazingly, the building was put back together with earthquake bolts. >> these are charleston's legendary ear...

Of u.s. history. struck charleston with a ferocious roar. >> reporter: author and researcher describes the horror that filled the steamy charleston air on august 31st, 1886. estimated 7.3 magnitude earthquake devastated this charming southern city. >> two-thirds of all the brick structures in charleston were either destroyed or severely damaged. >> reporter: and it was felt from montreal to nebraska, cuba to bermuda. this is the church building. this was severely damaged in the earthquake. >> this is one of the most magnificent churches in charleston. st. michaels episcopal church. the bell to...