Second ’quake rocks Adriatic

Press, 18 April 1979, Page 8

Second ’quake rocks Adriatic

NZPA-Reuter Budva, Yugoslavia A strong new tremor has rocked Yugoslavia’s earth-quake-devastated Adriatic coastal region, causing further damage in resort towns and mountain villages. First reports said the tremor had destroyed a psychiatric hospital at Dobrota in Kotor Bay, but the 400 patients had been moved to safety earlier.

The tremor measured 6.5 on the 12-point Mercalli scale, compared with the earthquake of nine degrees on Sunday.

It was the tenth strong tremor since the first big shock, which had the force of a 10-megatonne hydrogen bomb. There were no immediate reports of further casualties in the latest tremor. The new tremor caused fresh panic among the frightened population, 80,000 .if whom are homeless.

They spent their second night in the open, with only the lucky ones under tents and makeshift. shelters. Others huddled around camp fires when rain began, to add to their plight.

Officials said at least 200 persons had died and more than 1000 had been injured, many so badly, that they were dying. A further 35 persons were reported to have been killed and 330 injured in neighbouring Albania. The death toll in Yugoslavia was expected to rise further as rescuers used helicopters to reach devastated remote mountain villages. The Government said it was the country’s mostwidespread earthquake. But because its effects had

been mainly felt in largely uninhabited mountainous areas, the number of casualties was not as high as it might have been.

; However, scores of villages were razed to the ground and the Yugoslav V i c e-President (Fadilj Hodza), who flew over the stricken area in a helicopter, described the scene as “absolutely horrible.” Local authorities issued an urgent appeal for 20,000 tents. Despite a huge relief operation, only several hundred had arrived so far because many roads were destroyed in the earthquake. Even people whose homes survived relatively intact still feared to sleep indoors.

More than 200 aftershocks have been felt since the first big earthquake, and one measured 5.5 deg. on a 12point scale, enough to cause further damage to buildings.

Sunday’s first and most destructive shock measured nine degrees on the scale. In places it. even changed the geography of the coastal resort region, sending slices of coastline tumbling into the sea. The Government, which has ordered the release of emergency funds for the relief operations, said many historical monuments had been lost.

It said the region's economy, including a hithertobooming tourist trade, would be paralysed for a long time.

No casualties were reported among the 2000 foreign visitors in the area at the time of the earthquake. Offers of foreign aid are pouring in. It has been announced in Belgrade that Norway has granted SIM in aid to the victims.