TWO HUNDRED LIVES LOST.

Auckland Star, Volume XLII, Issue 135, 8 June 1911, Page 5

TWO HUNDRED LIVES LOST.

HEAVY DAMAGE IN THE CAPITAL. DURING THE PEACE CELEBRATIONS. [PBESS ASSOCIATION.—COFTBIGHT.I (Received 1.50 p.m.) NEW YORK, June 7. A series of severe earthquake shocks was experienced in Mexico to-day. Heavy damage was caused in Mexico City, the capital of the Republic, where many buildings, including houses, shops, and churches, were flung to the ground by the force of the earth tremors. Many of the occupants of the ruined buildings were killed by the falling timbers and brickwork, while numbers of others were killed in the streets by the falling materials. Already two hundred bodies have been taken from the ruins, but the work of exploring the devastated area is not yet completed, and the full extent of the loss will not be known for some time yet. The telegraphic office was damaged, and the wires are down, rendering :t extremely difficult to obtain accurate information as to the state of affairs in the city. When the shocks occurred the capital was crowded with visitors, who had gathered to assist in the peace celebrations, and in the reception to General Francisco Madero. head of the rebel army which forced President Diaz to resign, and leave th? i-oun'rv for Spain. Madero arrived in >.[<\\i-o C ity during the shocks, and some o" the buildings were shaking visibly during the reading of the proclamation which described him as the new Liberator ■>:' Mexico, and at the same time flames were bursting from the ruins of the -iructures which fell in the earlier shocks. Thp arrival of Madero and the subsequent ceremony dispelled the panic which had followed thp lirst shocks, and the populace is now calmer. Mexico ( ity has a population of close upon 400.000. the last census, taken some time ago. disclosin_ a total of 344.721. It lies 7347 ft above sea level in a huge hill-girt valley, in "which arc six lakes. On the edge of the largest ot these. Lake Tpzcuco, Mexico City first arose, but has now retired 2J miles to the north-west, ii contains many fine buildings, including an imposing Cathedral, nearly four centuries old. a Shmicipal Palace. National Palace, a huge legislative hall, and a national pantheon for the ashes of the great mon of Mexico. The whole of Mexico lies in the earthquake zone, but the volcanoes in the Republic are all extinct or quiescent, and violent earthquake- arc of rare occurrence. The most notable convulsion was the throwing up. in a single night, of Jorullo.a volcanic hill about 150 miles W'.S.W. of Mexico City. Several months of subterranean convulsions were experienced, and then the plain on which the hill now lips was upheaved like a gigantic bladder, the surface consisting of lava and cinders, and the hill being convex in shape, having an elevation 40ft above the plain at the edges and rising to a height of 535 ft. Last year a sharp shock of earthquake was experienced along the northwestern coast of the -Republic, the buil dings in several of the towns being cracked, but the damage caused was not very extensive, and there was no loss of life.