The Times. FRIDAY, JANUARY 5, 1940. The Turkish Catastrophe

Manawatu Times, Volume 65, Issue 4, 5 January 1940, Page 6

The Times. FRIDAY, JANUARY 5, 1940. The Turkish Catastrophe

To-day’s news gives evidence tliat Turkey’s tribulations are not yet over, and it is difficult to realise the magnitude of the disaster that has overtaken the country. The death roll is still a matter of conjecture at present, but there is no doubt that it is enormous, one estimate placing it as high as 50,000. Added to that is the destruction of the homes of the people and the disruption of their normal life.. Towns are in ruins and villages overwhelmed. Snowstorms impede the efforts of the relief workers. Turkey in Asia comprises the whole of Asia Minor or Anatolia; and extends from the Aegean Sea to the western boundaries of Georgia, Soviet Armenia, and Iran, and from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean and the northern boundaries of Syria and Iraq. A large portion of this area has been affected. The worst result of the earthquake seems to have been felt in the military city of Erzindjan, which is well in the interior of the country. Asia Minor is one of the earthquake regions of the world. Many shocks have been experienced there. The last of a serious nature occurred in April of last year, in central Anatolia, when eighteen villages were destroyed and 800 lives lost. Profound sympathy will be felt for Turkey in this latest disaster. The country under the direction of Kcmal Ataturk and his successor has shown a remarkable record of social, cultural and industrial progress, and in contrast with Turkey under the Sultans, has beconu a progressive and highlyrespected State. Earthquakes take a terrible 101 lof life and inflict tremendous suffering on the people who survive in the stricken areas. It is only in the late centuries that they have been recorded with any detail. One that occurred in Lisbon in 1755, which was described by Voltaire and other writers, affected more than a million square miles. The loss of life, which must have been tremendous, was never systematically recorded. Areas in which major shocks occur from time to time are Western China, Bulgaria, Burma, South Italy, British Honduras, Peru, Chile, parts of India, and Formosa. The big earthquake in Quetta in 1935 will be fresh in memory. It was one of the "worst experienced in modern times, 50,000 lives being lost. Japan has been the greatest sufferer from seismic disturbances. In the seven years from 1885 to 1892, the shocks, some small, some severe, in the country numbered 8000. Japan’s great tragedy from earthquake occurred in 1923, when Yokohama was razed, and a large part of Tokio destroyed, leaving a trail of death estimated at 100,000 lives. Scientists are devoting intensive research to the subject of earthquakes. There is now a big chain of seismograph stations spread over the world. Conditions beneath the sea have been studied by means of earth waves due to explosions. The relation of earthquakes to surface geological formations, particularly faults, has been investigated. Much effort has been given to the development of better seismic instruments and methods, especially directed to retaining high quality of Results with reduced costs.

Though general earthquake prediction is regarded as impossible, attention has been given to the possibility of determining whether stress is growing in the crust which may lead to earthquake, by means of triangulation, levelling tilt measurement, and special measurements along great fault planes. The sum of the matter is that there arc well-defined faults in certain parts of the world in the earth’s crust, and it appears to be inevitable that in these areas heavy shocks will be recorded from time to time.