WITHOUT WARNING

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 77, 1 April 1931, Page 12

WITHOUT WARNING

BUILDINGS' WBEOKED

TRAGEDY OF FIRE

(Bceeivea Ist April, 2.15 p.m.) VANCOUVER, 31st March. The latest messages from Managua show that one-story residences were literally pulled apart as the shocks jolted ;tfie city without warning. Firej followed immediately in. the market ' centre, travelling westward, consuming a' score of business blocks and licking up collapsed houses. Secondary 'quakes came, none lasting more than a few seconds. By noon half the city was in flames, and there seemed no way of stopping the fire from jumping frpm oner to another oi! the lightly-built houses. Practically nil the damage was clone in the first six seconds, when 70 per cent, of the buildings were brought down. A groat pall of dust arose, mingled with smoke from the fires. When tho firo started in the- market place, which was crowded with women and children, thirty-five were burnt to death there. The Hotel Lupone, the largest in the city, was wrecked. The water system had been disrupted and was useless. Tile water mains protruded through the smashed pavements. Dead and injured were scattered about the streets, where no wall remained standing ten feet above the ground. Martial law was declared, and by 3 o'clock in the afternoon some semblance- of order was restored. The cathedral, an old structure of red sandstone, and the Presidential Palace, were shaken to pieces. Managua is the capital city of Nicaragua, thu Central American Eepublic, best known in connection with tlio Nicaragua;! Canal propusul, formerly a rival to the Panama scheme. The capital is situated on the south shore of Lake Managua one of the two large Jakes in the centre cf the State. The urban population of Managua is given as 33,000, and the chief buildings were the President's House, the National] Palace, and the National Bank of Nicaragua. American Marines have been in occupation for several years on account of the disturbed condition of Nicaraguan politics. The whole country is volcanic, and subject to earthquakes.