Reading your editorial on this subject (TMID, 8 April) I wondered how many people comprehend what you said in the last paragraphs.

I am 89 years old and when I was a young boy in the early 30s, I used to hear people say that “when Malta loses its faith, it will sink below the sea and passing ships would say that here was once an island called Malta”.

At that time of great faith I used to wonder how it could happen that one loses faith. But now, 83 years later, Malta has come to the position in which people have rejected their highly religious National Day dedicated to the Mother of God who protected us from the three most horrible dictators the world had, namely, Soliman, Napoleon and Hitler.

This proves that Malta is very near to losing its faith. Then, as you wrote in your editorial, that “The Mediterranean is an area that is susceptible to such phenomena (earthquakes), and with Malta, at its centre, there is always the risk that we could be the next victims.”

Geologically, Malta lies on the verge of an over two thousand mile long rift valley, witness the sheer cliffs of the south coast of Malta and Gozo, with volcanoes very near, Stromboli, Etna, Graliam Island and another in the sea midway between Sicily and Carthage in Tunis, whose eruption was marked by satellite.

It is also said that Gozo had a volcano. Yet, during earthquakes felt in Malta, people living in the centre of Malta used to hear a lot of loud rumbling coming from underground.

Now all the factors seem to exist. Who knows whether it will be our turn next?

Joseph S. Ellul

Zurrieq