EARTHQUAKE IN FORMOSA

Press, Volume LXXI, Issue 21456, 24 April 1935, Page 11

EARTHQUAKE IN FORMOSA

' VILLAGES ENGULFED IN FISSURES MORE MINOR SHOCKS DAMAGE ESTIMATED AT £5,,100,000 (CHIT£D PRI33 A33OCIATTOK BT ZLBCTJUO TKI.ZGRAI'H— COPTHIC-aT.) (.Received April 23, J1.50 p.m.) TOKYO, April 23. Carrier pigeons are bringing the latest news of the earthquake in Formosa. Damage to property is estimated at £5,500,000. Huge fissures appeared, engulfing whole villages. The natives call them "devil's laughing mouths." Further shocks were recorded on Monday. The latest official Formosa earthquake figures are:—3lßs dead, 9478 injured, and 31,000 houses destroyed or damaged. It is estimated that the homeless approach 100,000. Relief workers are now beginning to cope with the situation. There have been 40 minor shocks recorded since 6 a.m. on Sunday. Dispatches from Taihoku report that people ■ are huddling in panic, fearing further shocks and alarming rumours of tidal waves. Although the entire island was shaken, the biggest toll was confined to an area 40 miles in diameter north of Taichu, especially the Toyahara district. Naiho reports 600 dead and Kamoika 45. The latter town is now burning. All the British missionaries who have been located are safe. At Toyahara, where 1300 were killed, 90 per cent, of the houses was razed and few persons were not injured. Scores of thousands have not eaten since the first shock. An aeroplane survey shows that the earthquake devastated 2000 square miles of country, from Shircva.vu to Taichu and inland as far as the mountain range. It is apparent that many villages were wiped out. Scores of men were trapped in the gold, copper, and coal mines in the affected areas. Air Corps machines dropped relief bundles and medical supplies to the villagers and mountaineers, who are mostly Chinese and Taiwanese, trapped when landslides buried tunnels and mountain passes, preventing relief workers establishing contact with them.

Many sections of the island's railway were totally destroyed. Because of the shortage of coffin", villagersare using old boxes. " ZONE OF SEISMIC ACTIVITY ! 'A DENSELY POPULATED AREA SHOCK RECORDED IN CHRISTCHURCH The western margin of the Pacific Ocean is one of the worst zones in the earth for seismic activity, and Japan, on the fringe of it, experiences more earthquakes than most other parts o£ the world, Mr H. F. Baird, of the Christchurch Magnetic Observatory, told a reporter yesterday. The earthquake which occurred in Formosa would not be regarded by seismologists as a really big one, said Mr Baird, but because it happened in a densely populated area it was attended by appalling loss of life. Mr Baird said that the seismograph at the Christchurch observatory recorded ttte shock at 9.45 a.m. on Sunday, and the distance was a little more than 5800 miles. Several movements were recorded on the seismograph during Easter. There was a particularly big one ori Friday morning, which Mr Baird estimated was further away than the Formosa shock. Two of the worst regions in the world for earthquakes, said Mr Baird, were Italy, and the area north of Australia, although they were a little different in character. Earthquakes were confined to restricted areas in Italy, while to the north of Australia, where lay the Pacific basin, they occurred at sea and consequently were not much heard of. The Formosa earthquake would have to be bigger than usual to produce a record in Christchurch, but it was not nearly as big as the one which occurred in India more than two years ago when there was loss of life over an area twice as big as that of the South Island. Previous Disasters An earthquake in Japan in September, 1923, was followed by a tidal wave and fire. The capital city, Tokyo, and the chief port, Yokohama, were practically destroyed. Casualties amounted to 246,540, of whom 103,733 were injured, 99,331 killed, and 43,476 missing and probably killed. The following are among the most disastrous earthquakes in the world's history:— Lisbon (1774), when between 30,000 and 40,000 lives were lost. The greater part of t.he city was wrecked, fire broke out, and a tidal wave swept over the quays and destroyed shipping. Property to the value of £20,000,000 was destroyed. Calabria (1783), when 60,000 lives Were lost. Aleppo (1882), when 20,000 lives were lost. Naples (1857), when 12,000 lives Were lost. Peru (1868), when 25,000 lives were lost. Karakatoa Island (1883), which was almost completely destroyed. Charleston (1886), when almost every building was damaged. India (1896), when Assam was devastates. Morit Pelee (1902), when 20,000 lives were lost. India (1905), when a disturbance spread over 1,500,000 square miles and caused a loss of 20,000 lives. California (1906), when a large portion of San Francisco was destroyed. Valparaiso (1906), when 2500 lives Were lost. Messina (1908), when many villages were destroyed and the death roll reached 77,000. Naples <1930), when 2000 people were killed and 4500 injured. Nicaragua (1931), when the capital city was destroyed and hundreds of people killed.