This is an explanation of some interesting points in my letter The fragility of life (TMID 15 April).

The prophecy of the sinking of Malta is suspected to be a prophecy by St Paul himself when he was in Malta. I suspect that this prophecy has come down by tradition, and there is nothing written about it. Or is there?

The volcano in the middle of the Mediterranean between Marsala and Mazzara in South-West of Sicily and Carthage in Tunis was shown by a satellite picture during an eruption lately.

Some also say that there is a volcano in Gozo. A statue of the Redeemer was put up on top of a small hillock on the left side while going down to Marsalforn. It is said that the statue was placed there as a vow against the volcano on top of the hillock that was supposed to be the mouth of the volcano.

In Marsalforn, on the right side shore, which 70 years ago was a vertical shore about ten feet high, there was a streak of brown burnt stone two inches thick about eight inches above the sea. Then, about eight feet high up there was another streak, and about eight inches above it was another streak just about four inches below the top of the rock.

This, I am told, has been destroyed to build a hotel. But where the stones were cut for the building, other evidence of volcanic eruption existed.

This is all evidence that there was a volcano in Gozo. And what about Malta? There was a light quake in Malta in 1982 about midday, and a stronger one in 1972 at night. The one at night was stronger and a lot of the population went to Ta’ Qali and left their homes. I did not leave my home in Zurrieq, but was awake.

I was listening to what was going on. I heard a very loud rumble which resembled the noise of the explosions of the Santa Maria Convoy when it was about 20 miles west of Malta. I heard the noise as if it was above ground. But people in Attard heard the noise directly below them. So the sound did not originate from far below ground.

The streaks of volcano eruption are not regularly spaced. There is space of eight feet between the lower one and the one above it, while there is only eight inches between the top two. This shows that between the bottom two, several thousands of years passed, while between the top two a few thousand years passed.

So who knows when the next eruption will take place?

Of course only God knows when!

Joseph S. Ellul

Zurrieq