THOUSANDS KILLED

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20132, 29 December 1939, Page 7

THOUSANDS KILLED

EARTHQUAKE TRAIL OF DISASTER

TOLL IN TURKEY AND MOROCCO TOWNS OVER HUGE AREA DESTROYED FLIGHT OF PEOPLE TO OPEN COUNTRY CAMP PRIVATIONS IN BITTER COLD (Elec. Tel. Copyright.—United Press Assn.) (Reed. Dec. 29, 11 a.m.) LONDON, Dec. 28. Seismographic registrations throughout Europe show the ex! ent and force of the earthquake whose results were fatally manifested in Anatolia and Morocco. A message from Istanbul states that seven successive shocks between 2 a.m. and 5 a.m. are reported to have destroyed or damaged Samsun, Yozgat, Ordu, Tokat, Sivas, Kefahiye and Amasya. It is feared that more than 8000 people are dead in Anatolia as a result of the earthquakes, but the interruption of communications precludes an accurate estimate being made. Town of 25,000 People. Tile Ankara correspondent of the Associated Press of (treat Britain says that officials estimate that 42,000 people were killed or injured in Erzindjan alone. The town of Erzindjan, with a-population of 25,000 was completelv destroyed.

Thousands of people fled to the open country where they are camping in a driving blizzard and bitter cold. The Turkish Government supplied medical aid with the Minister of the Interior directing operations. Tents and warm clothing are being rushed to the stricken regions. Deputies offered to contribute 40,000 Turkish pounds .to assist the homeless, but the Prime Minister intimated that a Government grant is being made as soon as the extent of the damage has been ascertained. “Post office collapsing”—was a dramatic unfinished telegram from an unknown post office employee at Tokatbefore dying at his post. He gave Istanbul the first news of the earthquake which razed villages in an area of 4000 square miles and greatly damaged many towns. Casualties in Tangier.

A message from Tangier states that the earthquake there killed many people and destroyed a store, a bank, and other buildings.

Recording instruments were shattered in Neuchatel (Switzerland), Faenza (Italy), and Coimbra (Portugal), where the shocks were the most violent ever recorded. A message from New York says that considerable earthquake shocks were felt at Los Angeles at 2.29 p.m. yesterday, the epicentre being 40 or 50 miles distant. The damage was negligible. Shocks were also felt at San Salvador at 5.55 a.m. yesterday, and on the Nicaraguan Pacific coast at 7 a.m. on Tuesday.