EARTHQUAKE AND FIRE

Taranaki Daily News, 3 June 1935, Page 5

EARTHQUAKE AND FIRE

DESTRUCTION OF QUETTA CITY , ' ... - i CASUALTIES MAY REACH 15,000 SCENES OF TERROR DESCRIBED By Telegraph—Press AsSn.—Copyright. Received 9 p.m. Calcutta, June 1. SCENES of terror occurred when the earthquake disaster overwhelmed the sleeping city of Quetta. A roar like a mighty cataract or 20 express trains presaged the catastrophe, which brought down substantial buildings and Indian huts on all sides, the destruction reaching a scale almost inconceivable. Fires have consumed most of the inflammable wreckage. Frantic cries of injured and imprisoned families were heard, a wide area becoming an extensive graveyard. Every minute saw deeds of great heroism amid the crazy ruins. The majority of the inhabitants of Mastung were crushed to death. Kalat is a wilderness honeycombed with corpses. The damage is reported to exceed that in the Bihar earthquake of last year, but the loss of lifers not considered as heavy. The latest and most reliable estimate places the casualties at between 10,000 and 15,000. Deaths of Britons are reported to number 200, while 200 patients were killed when the general hospital collapsed. z The casualties amongst the North-Western Railway staff are very heavy. The dead include 20 Europeans with families and 100 Indians with families.

UTTERLY DESTROYED

FATE OF CITY OF QUETTA HARROWING TALES TOLD - MARTIAL LAW DECLARED .'■ ( ' By Telegraph—Press Assn.—Copyright. Rec. 7.25 p.m. London, June 1. “Quetta has been utterly destroyed, scarcely a building being left standI ing,” said Major-General Karslake, commanding the troops at Quetta, whom the Dispatch interviewed by telephone. “We are working day and night dragging out dead and injured,”/he continued. “Thus far we have recovered the bodies of 200 Europeans and Anglo-Indians and 3000 Indians. The fires are subsiding owing to everything inflammable having been burned. Lorries loaded with corpses are proceeding to the cremation centres. Harrowing stories are told of whole families being buried in the ruins.” / The British Air Ministry announces that Air Force casualties are one officer and 31 men killed and 12 men missing, believed killed. A Karachi message says 100 British / soldiers were killed at Quetta and many British citizens were admitted to hospitals or are missing. The native city .of Quetta was razed .with the loss of 90 per cent, of the population. Official Government of India figures show that the casualties are: Dead, 72 British and 3000 Indians; injured, 92 British and 1500 Indians; missing, 30 British, Indians not estimated. It appears that the earthquake occurred in a 40-miles valley'from Mastung to Quetta. • The, latest horror is an extensive fire raging in the Indian bazaars. Flimsy shops and buildings are being consumed like matchwood and hampering the rescue efforts of the British and Indian troops. It is believed hundreds of injured persons were trapped in the buildings and burned to death. Fortunately the railways ware only slightly damaged and an emergency service is operating. Royal Air Force and private planes left Karachi with relief workers. and comforts. Quetta being an important frontier centra was amply provided with food and hospital facilities. The meteorological station at Quetta was destroyed and the chief officers and three children were killed. , The Indian casualties include the Nawab Sir Sh?ms Shah and five assist-ant-commissioners.

"'At Kalat the town and Miri Palace were destroyed. The Khan is safe. Martial lav? has been proclaimed in the earthquake area. Water is gushing from fissures and causing flooding. The Air Ministry bulletins at London resemble war-time casualty lists and the greatest distress has been caused to families of members of the Air Force throughout England. The British garrison, the majority of whom were uninjured, assisted Kidian troops in extricating hundreds of the Injured. The majority of the casualties occurred in the congested native part of Quetta where the housesitoppled one upon an. other. The panic-stricken inhabitants rushed into the narrow streets, where they were overwhelmed as the structures crashed. ■

Refugee camps were established on the racecourse, and in the grounds of the Residency, where Sir Alexander Cater, the British Commissioner, previously.had a miraculous escape, leaving with his household as their bungalow fell like a house of cards. It was in the.civil lines that Mr. Meredith Jones, of the Indian 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 has broadcast a wireless appeal to all provincial headquarters for the urgent dispatch of medical relief, and immediately the news of the disaster was received doctors and nurses were dispatched by the Punjab Government to the scene. | Chaman, a frontier post 60 miles north, was wiped out, and landslides destroyed many neighbouring villages. The Air Force barracks at Quetta are now mere debris, in which are the bodies of members of the Air Force killed while sleep-ing.-Many aeroplanes were damaged by falling hangars.

RECORD AT WELLINGTON

TWO HOURS’ DISTURBANCE By Telegraph—Press Association. Wellington, June 1. , The Baluchistan earthquake was recorded at the Kelburn Observatory. For two hours, commencing at 9.25 ajp. yesterday, the seismograph was in continuous motion, indicating A severe shake some distance away. The explanation of the long distance record is .that the waves travel at different speeds and the further they get away from the epicentre the more they spread out.