GREAT EARTHQUAKE IN CHINA

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1842, 16 May 1888, Page 3

GREAT EARTHQUAKE IN CHINA

The Pekln correspondent of the "North ; China Daily News " writes :— " The earthquake that has jaat been reported to the Emperor as having taken place on ' the 14th January m Yunnan is the mont severe found m the Chinese reoorda. It commenced at 6 In the evening and lasted till 4in the morning. During that time there wore 12 or 14 principal shocks, and the destruction of houses and human life was very great. The locality Is mountainous and dotted with beautiful lakes. Not far away are the silver mines of Burma, It is m this favored spot, a few mllei south of the Yunnan lake known as Tlenohlb, that this disaster occurred. The. whole extent of country disturbed by the earthquake li about 180 miles m length from east to west and 60 milei from north to south .|ln Shih-pllog, Cbien-shul, and other district cities the town walls were either thrown down or oraoked, while public offices and temples shared the same fate. At Shih-p'ing, m the louth of the city, eight or nine-tenths of the private houses fell, m the east M many as a half, m the north and west rather less ; but even there more than a thousand rooms were left with cracked or slanting walls Two hundred persons of all ages were crushed to death, and more than 300 permanently crippled. There was much loss of life or limb In the surrounding villages—namely, m those to the east, 800 killed and 700 or 800 wounded j to the south, 200 and 400 ; to the vest, 300 and 509 ; to the north, 100 ' and 200 ; making a total, inside and outside the olty together, of mora tban 4000 killed and wounded. But thia dnea not repreiont the whole of the suffering caused } for a large majority of the people rich and poor alike, are left without homes, all their provisions and other property being buried beneath the rain pf their houses. In the town of Ohlenshnl Itself seven or eight people were crushed to death, and some scores were Injured. In the neighboring villages 219 people were killed and 150 or 160 hurt In A-mi Ohcu, Hsiog-bslng Ghou, and Wei-yuan Ting, though fortunately no lives were lost, a number of housea were throtrn down. One of these was the district g»ol at Wei-yuan Ting, from which all the prisoners consequently ejosped,"