SIX HUNDRED KILLED.

Grey River Argus, 17 February 1927, Page 5

SIX HUNDRED KILLED.

BALKAN QUAKES. 170 Shocks. THOUSANDS OF HOUSES LOST. PEOPLE PANIC-STRICKEN. VIENNA, February 15. Tin* earthquake in 'Jugoslavia devas tated the whole southern Herzegovina. Bosnia and Dalbatia. The panic-strick-•?n population is camping in fields, fear ing a recurrence of the shocks. Several thousands of houses collapsed ‘and the damage is a. hundred million dinars. The hotel Ragusca was demolished, causing many deaths. (Received February 16 at 7.40 p.m.) BELGRADE, February 15. There have been one hundred and seventy-six distinct shocks of earthquake recorded in the Balkans since Monday. The latest reports indicate that six hundred people have been killed. In many districts the earthquakes have been accompanied by vivid flashes of lightning, and by peals of terrifying thunder, which have added to the horror of the scenes. The centre of the trouble is in Montenegro. There great fissures have appeared in the fields. Huge boulders have been broken from the mountains, ami have crashed down into the valleys. accompanied by avalanches of snow and ice, which have levelled forests and houses. The fields often have sunk below the river levels, and have been con verted into swamps. The railway lines have crumpled up. and telegraph wires have been torn down. A number of houses in the Polovopolje District, overlooking an embankment. werp bodily swept into a river without any notice, thus drowning the miserable inmates, who were hopelessly t rapped. A party of Englishmen at Ragusa, who have also experienced the great San Francisco earthquake, and the 1906 ■arthquakes, recall Signor Bendandi,’s prophesy (cabled on the 6th of January), as to the coming of quakes. CENTRE OF DISTURBANCE. BENEATH ADRIATIC SEA. VIENNA, February 15. The centre of the earthquake disturbance proves to have been beneath the sea. Huge waves have swept the Dalmation coast, forcing the inhabitants to flee. Great damage has been done at the Peljesac Peninsula, where a Church tower collapsed, and many buildings were destroyed. Morrinsville Shaken. TWO QUAKES YESTERDAY. HAMILTON, February 16. Morrinsvjlle was shaken by two earth tremors this morning, there being a fairly sharp shock at 9.15 o’clock, and another quite us severe an hour later.