No respite for earthquake areas

Press, 24 August 1976, Page 6

No respite for earthquake areas

NZPA-Reuter Golden, Colorado Earthquakes are continuing to shake China, the Philippines, and the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe.

’ hma had its second earthquake in two days yesterday, and another fresh tremor rocked the Philippines. A tremor lasting 11 minutes shook Guadeloupe on Sunday. An earthquake measuring 6.'7 on the Richter scale rocked a mountainous region of north-central China yesterday. The National Earthquake Centre said that there was no word of damage and the area hit was not heavily populated.

J Last month an earthquake measuring 8.2 on the Richter scale hit north-east China, and unofficial reports said that scores of thousands may have died. The Royal Observatory in Hong Kong recorded the earthquake at 3.30 p.m. yesterday (N.Z. Time). The National Earthquake Centre placed the earthquake’s epicentre near the border of Szechwan and Kansu provinces, about 1500 km north-west of Hong Kong.

Szechwan has now been hit several times since last week, when a strong earthquake, which the Chinese sav thev predicted successfully, struck sparselv-populated mountainous areas of the province. Szechwan is one of China’s biggest provinces, and its most populous, with an estimated 77M inhabitants.

The Chinese News Agency, Hsinhua. did not mention new earthquakes in broadcasts monitored in Tokyo yesterday.

Cotabrto City, in the! southern Philippines, was ■ also rocked by a strong! fresh tremor yesterday —' sending people running into' the street in panic. Reports from the city,[ badlv hit bv last Tuesday’s! killer earthquake, said that) the shaking lar'ed several seconds, but there were no immediate signs of more[ damage or casualties. The United States Geolo-j gical Survey in Golden. Col-1 orado, said that r.n earth-! quake measuring six on the !

[lRichter scale struck the Gulf , of Moro, off Cotabato City, at [3.43 p.m. (N.Z. time). None have been anywhere 'inear the magnitude of Tues- • day’s high 7.8 on the opentended Richter scale, or have caused more damage. But they have added to the fear of the people in the region, whose memories are so > seared by the original shocks ; that many have been too ner'vous to return to their homes, even where they escaped unscathed. ■ About a dozen big buildings in Cotabato City collapsed last week, and people are still trying to clear up after the massive devastation caused by the earthquake and ■ subsequent tidal waves. President Ferdinand Marcos said on Sunday that once all the missing were accounted for, the death toll from the Tuesday earthquake [and subsequent tsunamis (tidal waves) could be as jhigh as 8000. But the tallying is still going on. Most of the havoc was caused by the tidal waves — as high as nine metres in some areas of the southern I Mindanao coast. Bodies were [still being recovered from the sea which wiped out many villages in its sudden, ■ unexpected rush, last Tuesday. Life was reported to be slowly moving back to normal and relief supplies were still being airlifted to the south. Northern Filipinos were asked to give more aid to demonstrate the self-reliance which President Marcos has said must be the keynote of the rehabilitation programme. He said the damage was running ’ etween SNZBIM, and SNZIOSM. Hundreds of school buildings, roads and bridges needed repair and 4000 fishing boats were smashed. Wharves and piers along the 720 km coastline! have also been either damaged or destroyed, and 90,000 ipeople have Jost their flimsy homes. President Marcos, after

fl. Sunday's Cabinet meeting t[announced a SNZIO9M five•year programme to rehabili ;itate the area. -[ A strong tremor lasting 11 - minutes shook the French :[ Caribbean island of Guadeloupe on Sunday. ! I Scientists have warned ■I that the boiling Soufriere > volcano could erupt with a > i force of several atom bombs ■|at any moment. ’I Teams watching the volcano on Sunday night reported 122 tremors between Saturday evening and noon I Sunday and said their frequency was increasing. The 11-minute tremor was the most violent recorded ■ since July 8 and the volcano threw out rocks and clouds [of ash. i But Government officials were planning yesterday to allow some people evacuated from around the base of the !volcano to return to their ■ homes for a few hours to collect belongings. More than 70,000 people | were evacuated last week. A cyclone threat to the island has faded. Weather (forecasters said that Cyclone Emmy, earlier reported to be (heading towards Guadeloupe (with winds of up to 75km, would now sweep by to the north-east. Officials who lifted the cyclone alert said it would still bring heavy rain and rough seas.