EARTHQUAKE DISASTER

Otago Witness, Issue 3806, 22 February 1927, Page 28

EARTHQUAKE DISASTER

HUNDREDS OF DEATHS. VIENNA, February 14. Hundreds of people are dead' as - the result of an earthquake which was centred in Stolac (Jugo-Shvia). A landslide overwhelmed 12 houses in Serajevo, while numbers of railway stations and -hotels were- destroyed -between Spalato and Mostar. _ Minor shocks are reported in Central and Southern Italy. THOUSANDS RENDERED HOMELESS. LONDON, February 14. Fifty deaths are reported from the neighbourhood of Serajevo. The numbers of dead elsewhere are unknown, but thou-, sands of people are homeless as a result of earthquake. Troops are assisting the Red Cross workers. Every building in Stolac was damaged.

LARGE AREA AFFECTED. VIENA, February 15. The earthquake_ in Jugo-Slavia devastated the whole of Southern Herzegovina, Bosnia, and Dalmatia. The panic-stricken population is camping in the fields fearing a recurrence of the shocks. Several thousands of houses collapsed. The damage is estimated at 100,000,000 dinars. The Hotel Ragusa (Dalmatia) was demolished, causing many deaths. * . ■ The centre of the disturbance was beneath the sea. Huge waves swept the Dalmatian coast, forcing the inhabitants t» flee. Great damage was done on the Peljesac Peninsula, where a church tower collapsed, and many buildings were destroyed. The nominal value of a dinar-is about 9Jd.

A TERRIBLE VISITATION. BELGRADE, February 15. One hundred and seventy-six distinct shocks have been recorded in the Balkans since Monday.

The latest reports indicate that 600 persons have been killed. In many districts the earthquakes were accompanied by vivid flashes of lightning ana peals of terrifying thunder, which added to the horror of the scenes. In the centre of the trouble in Montenegro great fissures appeared in the fields. Huge boulders which broke away from the mountains crashed down into the valleys, accompanied by avalanches of snow and ice, which levelled forests and houses. The fields often sunk below the river level, and were converted into swamps. The railway lines crumpled --p and the telegraph wires were torn down. A number of houses in the_Polovopolje district overlooking the embankment were bodily swept into the river, without notice, drowning the miserable inmates who were hopelessly trapped. A party of Englishmen at Ragusa, who also experienced the San Francisco earthquake in 1906, recall Professor Bendandi’s prophesy in January last. SERAJEVO AGAIN SHAKEN. A new severe earthquake occurred at Serajevo and Ljubinje, razing a number

of houses which had been previously damaged. The Kew Observatory recorded a shock lasting four hours at an estimated distance of 5500 miles.

In January of this year Professor Bendandi, the noted Italian sieemologist, pro : phesied that the present year would be noted for great earth paroxysms, which would scatter death and destruction in the most distant parts of the world. About January 13 he said there would be a series of violent earthquakes in Europe, Asia, and Polynesia, tn February the seismic feyer would be more intense, and it would seem as if the earth was trembling. Central America would be violently shaken, and with the advance of spring shocks would be felt in Europe. There would be violent earth commotions and volcanic eruptions in summer in Japan, and by July the seismic forces would be in full activity in Southern Europe, Western Mexico, and California. The year would be extremely agitated on all the continents.

Serajevo was the birthplace of the Great War. It was here that the Archduke Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated on June 28, 1914, and exactly one month later Austria precipitated the great European conflict by declaring war on Serbia.