HEAVY DAMAGE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 17 November 1941, Page 5

HEAVY DAMAGE

DONE TO NEW MEXICO CITY ROCKED BY EARTHQUAKE. NO DEATHS OR SERIOUS INJURIES. (By Telegraph—Press Association —Copyright) LOS ANGELES, November 15. Damage estimated at 1,000,000 dollars was done in Torrance, New Mexico, when a sharp earthquake rocked the city and- its vicinity for 20 seconds at 3.41 a.m. yesterday. The walls of more than 40 business premises collapsed. So far no deaths or serious injuries have been reported. The chief of police described the business section of Torrance as a shambles, streets being piled with rubble, gas and water mains broken’ ,and power and communication lines brought down. A number of parked cars were crushed when the fronts of buildings fell into the'streets. The police roped off the business section to prevent looting and because of the danger from falling walls. Crude oil was spilled into the streets when a storage tank with a capacity of 55,000 barrels was torn apart. The danger of a major fire increased as fumes from the broken gas mains spread over the scene. Buildings in Los Angeles city were rocked by the ’quake, which was the most severe since the 1933 disaster, but no serious damage was reported. A second less severe shock was felt an hour after the first.