Gaetano Salvemini, a prominent figure in Italian socialism in the first half of the twentieth century, was sleeping in his home in Messina with his entire family in the early hours of the night between December 27 and 28, 1908. At 5:20 a.m., the earth began to shake, increasingly stronger, and for 30 seconds it continued relentlessly, destroying Messina, Reggio Calabria, and all the surrounding areas. The Messina Earthquake was occurring. The Italian politician and writer would be the only one in his home to be among half of Messina's citizens who survived the catastrophe; the rest of his family would perish under the rubble.

The earthquake was a magnitude 7, with enormous destructive power despite its short duration. Seismographs in Florence were recording data their instruments couldn't measure, and they understood that something major was happening on the peninsula, but they didn't know where. Thus, the actual detection of the event was delayed, and the first attempt at communication arrived at 3:00 PM, thanks to an adventurous postal worker from Messina. He managed to travel 15 km from the city to the Scaletta train station and send a telegram to the capital, reading "Messina destroyed."

In Rome, among those who immediately feared a possible surprise attack by the Austrians and those who considered the telegram an exaggeration or a joke in bad taste, the majority opinion was to disbelieve and not be alarmed by its unofficial origin. This action delayed the dispatch of relief supplies by another 2 hours, at which point a naval squadron anchored off the coast of Messina found a functioning telegraph on the Calabrian coast and officially communicated with the Giolitti government through an official channel.

More than 12 hours after the catastrophe, Giolitti organised the first rescue teams, moving navy ships anchored in Sardinia toward the Strait of Messina. Their organisational methods were one of the subjects of "The Minister of the Underworld," a work by Gaetano Salvemini that theorised the decline of the liberal ruling class. According to the author, it was no longer capable of governing the Kingdom of Italy and was profoundly corrupt in its executive decisions. The relief efforts organised for the earthquake victims of Messina were tangible proof of this, with decisions that further devastated the devastated cities.