’QUAKE WIPES OUT NICARAGUAN CITY.

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 78, 1 April 1931, Page 1

’QUAKE WIPES OUT NICARAGUAN CITY.

only few houses left STANDING IN CAPITAL.

(United Press Assn.—-By Electric Telegraph—Copyright.) (Received April 1, 9.45 a.m.) NEW YORK, March 31. A message from Managua (Nicaragua) states that a terrific earthquake shook the city to-day, causing great damage. The Tropical-Radio Company (Panama City) reports that Managua was destroyed and that only a few houses are standing and these are burning. It is reported that 40 are dead and that fire is spreading rapidly.

Managua, the capital of Nicaragua, with an urban population of 33,000. stands on the southern shore of Lake Managua, 187 miles from the Atlantic Coast. The chief buildings are the President’s House, the National Palace, and the National Bank of Nicaragua. There are a fine park and fine roads. There are many scenic attractions.

HEAVY DEATH ROLL IN NICARAGUAN CAPITAL.

(Received April 1, 10.30 a.m.) NEW YORK, March 31. The Tropical Radio Station has been advised that between 400 and 500 are dead in Managua as a result of the earthquake. MANAGUA WAS SHAKEN DOWN IN SIX SECONDS. (Received April 1. 1.15 p.m.) VANCOUVER, March 31. Latest reports from Managua show that orre-storey residences were literally piilled apart as tremors jolted the city without warning at 10.2 am. Fire started immediately in the market centre, travelling westward and consuming a score of business blocks and licking up the collapsed houses within an hour. Secondary quakes came, none lasting more than a few seconds. By noon half of the city was in flames and there seemed no way of the fire jumping from one to another of the lightly-built houses. Practically all the damage was done the first six seconds, when 70 per cent of the buildings in the city were brought down and a great pall of dust arose and mingled with the smoke from the fires. When fire started in the market place it was crowded with women and children, and thirty-five were burned to death there. The Hotel Opone, the largest in the city, was wrecked, the water system was disrupted, and useless water mains protruded through the smashed pavements. The dead and injured were scattered in the streets, where no wall remained standing ten feet above the ground. Martial law was declared, and by three o’clock in the afternoon some semblance of order was restored. It is believed that the death list will total between 500 and 800. The Cathedral. an old structure of red sandstone, and the Presidential Palace were shaken to pieces. A later message states that it is estimated that upwards of 1000 were killed, including many Americans The injured number several thousand. The British' and American Legations were destroyed, the Government offices wrecked, and banks, department stores and office buildings burned. The streets are flooded. United States Marines took charge.