J FORCE FELT ONLY SMALL TREMORS

Chronicle (Levin), 31 December 1946, Page 5

J FORCE FELT ONLY SMALL TREMORS

Received Aloiulav, 7 p.m. j OILbpr, Dec. 23. Only today when the full details oi i Ihe casualties and exteusive damage ui the northern areas of Honshu bccattu known here, was the severity of the ! recent earthquake realised by mos; \Nevv Zealanders in Japan. It is now , obvious that of the liuge shakeu area ; between Tokio and Shimonoseki, tlu 1 New Zealand zone in the extrenic south "was the least alfected. What in severnprefectures was a major disa^ter, wac jlittle inore than a series of niinoi treniors in tlie Vamaguchi area and tlu only Xew Zealanders who were witliiu about 150 miles of tlie earthquaki : centre were a fow men nttached to small B.O.O.P. detaehments in tluArnerican oecupation zone. Reports from all these imits are that they sull'ered no casualties and only minoi ; damage. Among the Xew Zealanders nearesi i f o t lie devasl ated areas were menibers j of the stalf of the B.O.O.P. newspapei. "B.P.Q.N.", which is published tn Osaka. Their barrack building, oue wing of a- former Japanese hospital, was severely shaken for severai minutes but tlie building was uu- ! damaged and none of the Xew Zealanders and otlier B.O.O.P. troops was injured. Oue of Ihe first Allied reporters to reach the devastated area was a Xew Zealander on the stafi" of "B.O.O.X.". Captain A. X". Rutledge, of Christchurch, who went by ;jeep to Wakayanm tipjasf ei'tu re.^v'l)iere ^evfraj cdastal tovvns Had been • immdatdd by a Tida! wave. : At least 7000 lionies in the Wakayam,i area were destroved. Otlier X'cw Zea , lauder. s in Central Ifonshu and in rc taehments between Ku ro and Tokio have all been rejiorted safe and un injured.