’QUAKE IN BALUCHISTAN

Greymouth Evening Star, 1 June 1935, Page 7

’QUAKE IN BALUCHISTAN

ENORMOUS LOSS REPORTED TOWNS DESTROYED [BY CABLE—PBEBS ASSN.—OOPYBIGHT.] (Repeived June 1, 8 a.m.) LONDON, May 31. Quetta, the capital of British Baluchistan, was severely rocked by an earthquake. It is .believed that many were killed, including Government officials. The civil and railway areas were devastated. The military areas were not damaged. Sir Alexander Cater (Governor-General) telephoned to the Punjab Government, to rush nurses and doctors to the rescue. The casualties include forty-three Air Force members. The whole city was razed. Telegraph lines were dislocated.

The shocks were of varying intensity, lasting between thirty and sixty seconds. '

All the buildings on the countryside between Quetta and Kalat were razed. It is reported that four-fifths of the population were killed. THOUSANDS OF DEATHS (Rec. June 1, 11 a.m.) CALCUTTA, May 31. Widespread havoc was caused by an earthquake of /. great intensity which rocked northern India at thre’e o’clock in the monjing. The epicentre is believed to be South Afghanistan, 150 miles north-west of Quetta. Quetta was the most severe sufferer. All communications are broken, but wireless messages report that the city is devastated. More than a thousand were killed including prominent European Government officials, their wives and children. Forty-three Royal Air Force men were killed and thirty are missing. The-whole police force is said to be wiped outr The Staff College is understood not to be severely affected. All the staff officers are safe. The town of Mastung, about thirty miles from Quetta, was destroyed and four-fifths of the . population killed. Severe damage was done to the surrounding villages. GOVERNOR’S NARROW ESCAPE LONDON, May 31. Unconfirmed reports state there are thirty thousand deaths in Quetta alone. . ' The British garrison, the majority of whom were uninjured, assisted the Indian troops in extricating hundreds of injured. The majority of casualties occurred in the congested native city where houses toppled, one , upon, another. The panic-stricken inhabitants rushed out into the narrow streets, where they” were over whelmed .as" the structures crashed. • Refuge camps were established/on the racecourse, and the grounds of the residency where Sir Alexander Cater previously had a miraculous escape, leaving with his household as the bungalow-fell like a pack of cards. .The casualties to the members of the Air Force do not include, the officers. Shocks were felt in all the upper districts. At Sind, people were hurled from their beds, and ran into the open. "APPALLINGLY HEAVY.” RUGBY, May 31.

It is impossible as yet to estimate with even approximate accuracy, the total number of casualties among the native population, but there .can be little doubt that in the congested native city of.. Quetta, and in other towns, the total will be appallingly heavy. It is known that the death roll included one officer and 43 Royal Air Force personnel!, two British officials' and their families, practically the whole police force of Quetta ,and subordinate civil and railwav officers. The earthquake was felt with equal severity in the civil • lines and in the Royal Air Force area, which lie to the west of city, but the military area lying to the north was only .slightly damaged, and as far as is known no military officers or their families were among the injured. , It was in the civil lines that Meredith Jones, of the India Civil Service, his wife and mother-in-law- and Mr Francis, of the Irrigation Service, and his wife, lost their lives. , ' Apart, from the towns, Baluchistan is sparsely populated, and no information is yet available as to the damage in the outlying districts. Sir Alexander Cater broadcast • a wireless appeal to all provincial headauarters for urgent despatch of medical relief and immediately news of the disaster was received, doctors and nurses were despatched by the Punjab Government to the scene. 20,000 CASUALTIES. (Received June 1, Noon.) CALCUTTA, May 31. Latest news from Quetta states the total casualties are estimated at twenty thousand. Many thousands are buried in the debris. Quetta is a district and town in British Baluchistan, at the ■end of the Bolan Pass, on the road to Kandahar. The military cantonment occupies a valley 20 miles by 5 miles. Quetta is the norths western terminus of the railway to Afghanistan. COLORADO FLOODS MANY DEAD AND MISSING (Rec. June 1, 10.30 a.m.) COLORADO SPRINGS, May 31. Twenty-three persons are reported dead and missing as the result of flood conditions of the mountain streams, which carried away bridges and roads communications. At Glendo, Wyoming six are dead and many are missing.