CHILEAN 'QUAKE

Auckland Star, Volume LIII, Issue 307, 28 December 1922, Page 6

CHILEAN 'QUAKE

A TERRIBLE VISITATION. BED OF OCEAN RENT. TIDAL WAVES HURLED OVER COAST. SANTIAGO. Chile, November 13. Hundreds of persons lost their llvee in a devastating earthquake and tidal wave which struck the coast of northern Chile early on Saturday. Starvation, pestilence and exposure are claiming additional victims in the wake of the disaster and relief caravans are rushing to aid homeles* inhabitants of the stricken territories. The tidal wave which followed the earthquakes indicated a gigantic disturbance beneath the Pacific. The waters first were drawn away from the shore, far below the low tide mark, and then thej- came rushing hack in a great wave which some observers said was 170 ft. in height.

Rushing up across the land, battering down everything in its path, the mountainous sea receded after a few minutes, dragging human beings, .houee-, overturned vessels and a great mass of debris along in the under-tow.

Sf-veral times the ocean swept outward and came back in the shape of a great wave, flooding the seaports and in some instances sweeping away the waterfront. The violent effects of the tidal waves were felt from Antofagasta on the north, to Valldivia in the south, covering about 10 degrees of latitude, or more than 1200 miles.

Thf meterological institute announced that the earth shock coincided with the passage of the sun spot over the central meridian of the solar body and followed a day of terrific heat. The sun spot made its appearance, on November 5 and was the largest observed this year. WHOLE DISTRICTS WTPED 01/ T.

Communication with the shattered towns along the coaet from Valparaiso to Antofagasta. the district which bore the brunt of the shock and upheaval, is still disrupted. Couriers brought word to the capital of whole villages levelled by the 'quake, with wounded survivors lying in hundreds in the streets.

Vallenar, Copiapo and Coquimbo, three little coastal towns, suffered most from the great shock at 12.30 a.m. Saturday. They were inundated by the tidal wave which followed the first earth tremors. But little villages farther back in the hills appear also to have suffered terrible loss of life and destruction of property which it mar never be possible to estimate. There are reports that whole communities were wiped out. The largest 'quake, felt over the entire South American continent and registered on sei3iuograp!is all over the world, laetod for over three hours, although it was perceptible to human senses only two minutes. That was sufficient to drive those whose houses withstood the shock in terror into the streets where many, in coastal village*, were drowned by the terrific tidal wave which lifte.i its millions of tons of water over the unprotected houses along the shore. FEAR TO RETURN' HOME. Thousands slept in the open last night, afraid to return to tottering houses, or even those which had withstood the shock, for fear of a repetition of thej earthquake. Slight tremors were felt on Sunday afternoon, spreading panic among the natives for ;)00 miles along the coast.

Couriers came to Santiago from \ allenar and Copiapo to arrange for caravans to take fuod anrf medicine to the stricken towns. The former place, they declared, was practically obliterated. Injured and »ick are being treated in the streets and public squares. Starvation is already in sight at Valleniir, wliile (lispa?p has begun tn sprp:id amonp the victim-; who are huddled together in rude shelters in the plazas.

Romon AlcavajfO, a prominent Chilean engineer, wae one of t-lie fir?t to brln» a reliable eye-witne*s story of the desolation and disaster that was spread through the north. He declared contagious diseases were spreading like wildfire and that many were threatened with death from exposure and hunger.

Arriving at La Serena, Alcayngo told a dramatic story of the destruction of the jail at Vallenar, which was crowded with prisoners sentenced for minor offences.

The shock hurled down the adobe walls of the little prison, injuring many of the frightened inmates. Those able to do so, rushed from the jail but made no attempt to flee further, remaining shaking in terror in an open space near the ruins of the prison. Troops were standing guard over the prisoners, with no place in which to lock them up.

La Serena, as the largest city in the immediate vicinity of the devastated area, has received numberless apppals for assistance since Saturday morning. Both Copiapo and Vallenar are without sufficient medicines to prevent scores from dying unless relief comes quickly. People in the shaken towns are living in abject fear of repetition of the "quake. Scenes of horror all about them, victims lying unburied, houses in splinters and occasional vague earth rumblings, have reduced them to complete incapacity for helping themselves. They are waiting for outside aid, which, in some instances, may not arrive for several days, owing to the destruction of transportation facilities.

Iluasco is one of those communities suffering greatly. Tt was the first to send out a hunger cry. The government was prompt to answer. Chilean cruisers being sent to C'ocjuimbo with supplies, food and medicine. CRUISERS GIVE ASSISTANCE. Officers of the cruiser Chacabaco reported seventy known dead in Coquimbo, but expressed belief that this >vould be a email part of the city's actual death roll if it ever became known. The great wave that swept in obliterated an entire community along the seashore, sucking back into the Pacific many of its victims. Five hundred houses, offices, wharves nnd depots were shattered by the tidal wave.

Thirty-five hundred persons were rendered homeless in this town.

A despatch from La Serena said that between six and seven hundred were dead in that vicinity. Coquimbo, one of the towns to suffer most, is just a few miles from La Serena. Various despatches from other parts of the north indicate a like number was killed in Vallenar, Copiapo. Huasco and the inland villages, making an approximate total of 1400 dead with additional deaths each hour. Improvised shelters, tenta and automobiles now house thousands of mothers with their children. The natives, for the most part uneducated, believe the god.- brought on the disaster and absolutely refuse to spend the night inside a d-welling house.