TIDAL WAVE STRIKES NEWFOUNDLAND

Dominion, Volume 23, Issue 51, 23 November 1929, Page 11

TIDAL WAVE STRIKES NEWFOUNDLAND

HEAVY LOSS OF LIFE HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE HOMELESS New York, November 21. Delayed reports from St. John’s, Newfoundland, received here, state that thirty-four are known to be dead, with many sections not yet heard from, as the result of a tidal wave which struck the South Coast of Newfoundland following the earthquake of November 18. A wall of water fifteen feet high hit the coast and moved inland, carrying houses and the bodies of human beings and animals. When it receded hundreds of people were left homeless. The damage at present Is estimated at 200,000 dollars. ..Reports came in slowly due to the absence of communications, which were disrupted by the earthquake. The first news came by wireless from the steamer Portia, which ultimately reached Burin, 'on the Burin Peninsula. The early reports of loss of life are summarised as follow :—Burin, sixteen houses carried away, nine dead; at Lamalin and Lord’s Cove, close together, near the end of the Burin Peninsula, twelve houses carried away and eighteen dead, most of whom are women and children, who were caught in their homes and carried to sea; at Port Aubras, a few miles west of Lord’s Cove, seven houses carried away, seven dead, six of whom are women and children.

The boats in the fishing fleet were tossed violently, but no marine disasters are yet reported. Most of the men in the region were out fishing, leaving their families at home. Land and cable wires were destroyed. There was an interval of two and a half hours between the earthquake and the tidal wave. Efforts have been begun to-day to send relief to the homeless.