Details Awaited Of Philippines ’Quake

Wanganui Chronicle, 28 January 1948, Page 5

Details Awaited Of Philippines ’Quake

Manila Jan. 25. Detailed reports of the death and destruction from the earthquakes which rocked the five major Philippine Islands over a period of four hours early this morning, followed by a shock of moderate intensity twelve hours later, are still awaited. The latest estimate places the deaths at 40. A series of tremors opened great cracks in the earth, with water and black sand spouting as high as the surrounding coconut palms. Each new shock sent terror-stricken people running pell mell into the streets to seek safety in the open fields. Some frantically hauled property away. Government officials in Manila said relief agencies were mobilised and the Mayor of Iloilo had been given full emergency powers. A New York message says the Rev. Father Lynch, director of Fordham University’s Observatory, stated today that h e had never recorded a more severe earthquake but doubted whether the Philippines received the full impact. The main force had probably been unleashed in the ocean.