THE EARTHQUAKE

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 104, 30 October 1923, Page 9

THE EARTHQUAKE

YOKOHAMA IN JHE DUST

A PERSONAL STORY

BUILDING THE CITY OF THE

FUTURE.

A special writer on the staff of the "Japan Weekly Chronicle" writes as follows of his experiences in Yokohama during the tragedy of Ist September.

By one of the most awful cataclysms of modern times, caused by earthquake ana fire, Yokohama, one of the principal ports of the Empire of Japan, with its large foreign business and residential quarters, has been wiped out of existence; Tokio, the nation's capital, has been almost demolished; the large naval depot. of Yokosuka, at the mouth of Tokio Bay, has suffered such enormous damage by earthquake and fire that the total financial loss cannot even be suggested: while within a radius of about a hundred miles on either side of Tokio Bay damage of -varying degree is reported. THE OUTBREAK IN YOKOHAMA. Tha shock which was primarily responsible for the devastation- in Yokohama occurred at almost two minutes before the noon-hour, just prior to the closing of business for the day, by the banks, the Government, and Consular Departments, the bulk of the foreign, and many of the Japanese business establishments. Without the slightest warning in the form of the usual rumbling like the distant booming of a cannon, the ground seemed to heave a distance of several inches and then to recede like the breaking of a wave on th« seashore. Than came a violent tremor which carried tables and chairs from one side of the room to the other, while aimuL. | taneously nolid steel safes were thrown Mat to the floor, and huge boulders of masonry displaced from the walla were hurled in all directions. Many occupant* of offices were thrown violently a distance of several feet, while others, who found it possible, clung to the nearest pillar or door-post to prevent being thrown violently into tho street beneath. In other cases magaivo buildings like the Oriental Palace and Grand Hotel, the Yokohama United Club, the Chartered and International Banks collapsed like a huge cardboard box, in some cases the roof falling flat on a three-storied building and crushing it as flat as a pancake, pinning beneath the debris many who were helpless to get away Th e sound caused by the crashing of buildings on every sde was deafening [.while the air was filled with huge cloud, of:dust. When we emerged' into the street, a terrible spectacle met one's gaze. North and south, east and west as far as one could see, there was not a bulding that had withstood the terrible shock. In some case,, whole buildings had gone down; in others, just a couple of pillars were standing, being flanked by huge rafter*, and broken pieces of masonry, which it seemed impossible to remove. Ur[der gome of this debris were pinned member, of staffs-foreigners and Japanese—whose agonising cries for help were heard on every hand. In numerous cases, it is to be fared, exit was impossible, and hundreds-nay thou«andemust have pemhed in the flames which w^hin a few minute broke out in every quarter of the city. Thoae who aucceedg uthroughto Bund wer. the fiong Kong and Shanghai Bang on the other, escape appeared to be absolute ly cut off and very quickly the interne heat whlch came {rom % he I^*^"; made lt necessary to take to the wate? Kafts and beams were requisitioned from the rums and Mcd as temporary float? foreign men and women iikW to the" watery the clothes which.the/ JoV^

TYPHOON ADDS TO THE HOEEOE. Th 9 experiences of those in the water will certainly never be forgotten, by those who shared them. Very soon ,L ♦£ teared .what might eventually be tha For some three or four hours no boats of any kind not even a Japanese sam pan, came to the aid of those in tie water It was stated that the small launches found it impossible to weather the gale an d contend with the current which was sweeping in so strongly from the shore.

X \ T Pall Of imoE9 res«nß over, the harbour, which at times'hid from sight the sun, or made it appear to the view as a red ball of fire-it was impossible for those in the water.to get other than a faint glimmer of the situation as regards the shipping in the harbour. All they knew was that help was an interminable time coming. One saw from tune to time the huge ships at the pier-the Empress of Australia and the French mail liner Andre Lenon-out-lined against a bank of fire, givina rise to the fear that bo.th ship* Vere* p" 0 bably on fire A liMe later, however when the typhoon Began to subside, the real situation became apparent The frequent explosions at- the Customs wharves tod that fire had broken out at the docks, and later it was known that due to circumstances to be detailed later both these ships were in vary grave dann-er cowing to inability to move out in the harbour.

And so the -anxloue moments dragged ?w *£P lo]f ona in rapid succession told that the names were dome; tjieir de vastating work among the oil tanks, the oil adding another danger to the already serious periL Fire-pumps and hose were quickly requisitioned, and towards 6 o'clock, when sunset approached and the wind and flames and waves abated there was hope that help would soon be available. ■ ' , THE RuTNS. What is to be said? A boy kicks an ant hill and leaves only a few meaningless and shapeless pillars of earth standing above the levelled mass. Such ig Yokohama. The ants get busy and buid again, there or elsewhere. Men build in the same place, because Nature bids them use the opportunities she gives, whatever, the risk.

Probably they will use the very ruins to make more land whereon to rear their perilous dwellings, pushing the new Yokohama further out into the sea. They will take pride ia building a more beautiful city. The very terrors of the flight from death in tha 'quake wll turn their minds, not only to securer buildings but to wider streets and open parks that will not only please the eye but provide places of refuge when £be next disaster

comes. How the people of Tokio were blessed with parks. But what can one say of heaps of bricks and mortar and tangled wire*? Certainly one never knew what a civilisation of wires ours was before struggling for miles through the angle in Yokohama. Tramway wires, telephone wires, telegraph wires, lighting wires, cables of numerous strands, and the single wires of the buildings' internal systems. Wires, wires ! There they lie, encumbering the ground for miles. To clear them away is almost aa great a task as to instal a new labyrinth.

So with the piles of bricks and steel. If a giant broom could come and sweep them all level, or if a hammer with a face an acre wide, could crush them all to a common plane, the task would be comparatively easy. But to contemplate that mass that must first be taken away gives a sense of appalling hopelessness. It is the penalty of tall construe; tion. The living quarters of the Japanese have no such terrifying- problem. But it is the fate of cities—especially seaports—to grow skywards. The sight of a single lot waiting to be cleared is enough to appal a man. Then there is the cracked ground, and the dilapidated piers and waterfront wall*. Is there a single frame that can be left, even of the few that stood the shock, or must not every one be dynamited and made entirely anew? The thing is too big.' A refugee who came yesterday was heard talking in a loud voicg with high superlatives—"terrible, awe-inspiring" and such words. They sounded painfully tame. One cannot describe the biggest storms. • There is the wilderness. There i* the gcene of recent terror and hideou* death —death to men and death to things. Cities as well aa men have a sort of life. And like men, they rise on stepping stones of their dead selves to higher things.