QUAKE STILL TAKING TOLL

Taranaki Daily News, 27 January 1934, Page 7

QUAKE STILL TAKING TOLL

BIHAR CLOCK TOWER FALLS TEN PEOPLE BURIED IN RUINS SEVEN EXTRICATED ALIVE SUMMARY OF INDIA’S LOSS By Telegraph—Press Assn.—Copyright Calcutta, Jan. 25. The earthquake is still taking its toll. The upper part of the clock tower of the Bihar secretariat, which was damaged during the earthquake, crashed this afternoon, ' burying ten persons, including the contractor who was in charge of the repairs, also a woman and a boy. Seven were extricated alive. With the news now available it is possible to form a closer appreciation than hitherto of the magnitude of the Indian earthquake, says a British wireless message. It now appears that the loss of life, although grave, has been much smaller than was at one time feared, the death roll being apparently not greatly in excess of 2500. Considering the widespread damage to house property and crops this figure is remarkably small. This may be due to the fact that the earthquake occurred when the majority of the population was out of doors. The towns suffering the most material damage were those of North Bihar, where at least half the brick-built houses were ruined, and Monghyr, where the hospital was destroyed and hundreds of lives lost in the collapse of the bazaar, which is now a heap of ruins. In Mussafarpore the houses of judges and civil servants were destroyed, the gaol and bank damaged, and some 300 lives lost. In Darbhanga another 300 lives were lost and all the brick buildings were destroyed. Motihari was completely isolated and largely destroyed. In Bhagalpur buildings were extensively damaged. At Jamalpur there was very great material damage and the loss of some 20 lives, while in Pusa the famous agricultural institute was badly damaged. In Chapre residences and public buildings were wrecked and the hospital rendered unsafe. Fifty lives were lost in Patna, hundreds were injured, and over 4000 buildings either damaged or destroyed. DEVASTATING, SLIMY FLOOD. Outside of the towns the destruction of house property has been on a much smaller scale. More obvious signs of the earthquake are the broken and obliterated roads, widespread floods, and great cracks in the ground from which, mud, sand and water have been spreading a devastating slimy deposit over the fields and crops. In addition there has been a general collapse of road and railway bridges, making ordinary communications impracticable over a large part of the affected area.

The gravest menace to the rural population, which reaches in places the unusual density of over 900 to the square mile, is the damage to agriculture, including the destruction of sugar mills. Moreover, many wells have been ruined, and the problem of a supply of healthy drinking water in both towns and villages is most acute. The disaster affected all classes. Town folk lost their houses and possessions, agriculturists their crops. In Bihar alone damage estimated at many crores of rupees was caused, and very large relief funds will be required. In Britain the High Commissioner for India is receiving contributions towards a fund rtarted by the Viceroy, and the Lord Mayor of London, at the request of the Secretary for India, is to cooperate.

The saddest story of the earthquake is revealed from Dhang, in the extreme north of Bihar, where a family of six European residents, the only white people for many miles, was crushed to death in the earthquake. The victims were Mr. and Mrs. White, Mrs. Tripe and her three children. The family owned a sugar plantation. The shock destroyed fee bungalow and the factory, and the resultant flood drowned all in the vicinity and prevented desperate attempts at rescue by Mrs. White’s sister, who motored 100 miles but was too late to give assistance.