HEAVY CASUALTIES IN JAPANESE 'QUAKE

Rotorua Morning Post, Issue 5285, 23 December 1946, Page 5

HEAVY CASUALTIES IN JAPANESE 'QUAKE

( Press Assn. —

tidal wave damage OFFICIAL DEATH ROLL ESTI'MATE 1500

Rec. 9.30 p.m.)

TOKIO, Dec. 21. Heavy damage and considerable loss of Ufe were caused over a wide area of southern Japan by an earthquake and a tidal wave early this mornmg. The Japanese Meteorological office says Ihe damaged area is roughly 150 miles long and 50 to 60 miles wide, stretching* along the southern side of Wakayama Prefeeture on flonshu and at the northern and. eastern sections of Shikoku. The earthquake lasted from 42 setmds iu sorae areas to two minutes in otliers, and oeeurred at 4.30 a.m. The tidal wave hit the affected area about 10 minutes later. The Kyodo News Agency reports that Koehi, Ivinan, Yura and Wakayama were the biggest centres struelc by the wave, whit'h penetrated as far as live miles iqland. American army reports state that the tidal wave wiped out 200 families oi> the eastern shores of Shikoku. Ninety were killed and 120 seriously injured. Two hundred and eighty liomes were destroyed and 461 damaved by the waves. At Talcoka, T0 miles south-west 'of Kochi, the army estimates that 1000 himies are under water. In the Kochi atea it is diffieult to determine wm-ther the wave or the earthquake dit! the most damage. , Three More Tremors There were more earth tremors in southern Japan during the night. A serious shoek caused damage in oue scrtion of Shikoku Island. Five men were killed in a prefeetural building there. The latest official Japanese figures g'ive the death roll in yesterilav's earthquake and tidal wave.as (i.ltS. The number of injured is about Ihe same, and nearly 100 more people are missing The official report says over 4000 homes were destroyed and 300,000 people made homeless. The loss of life appears to have j bee't heaviest along the eastern shore j of Honshiu Island, opposite Shikokm Whole districts there are stiil isolated j exeept by boat. The commander of the Royal Aus- I tvaiian Xaval Squadron in Japanese i waters says there have been no easualties among British Commonwealth | r.aval men ashore 01* afloat. British Cmnmonwealth ships and naval estabIbhments have also escaped damage. Food and medicine are being_ru^hed by plane, rail and boat to areas isolated by the disruption of communicati.'llS. No New Zealand Loss Earth tremors continued throughntn the night in southern Japan, and ab.-ut 10 hours ago, what is deseribed as anotlier senous shock, did i'rt'sb damage on Shikoku Island. Allied military authorities in Japan say all British Commonwealth eccupatiiin troops are safe, although theirs wa the area worst hit yesterday. Kiu e, where the British headquarters is ituated, was not seriously (lamaiM' l, and . all the troops are safe. ihe New Zealand official corre-s-poudent reported after the maia sln.ck That there were nc casualties among New'. Zealand forces. The Dominion troops aie almost exclusiwly stalioned at Yamaguchi, fusilier to the south'. i.'eports from Tokio show that ihe wave following the earthquake has ,1„!;. very heavy Jamage along the siii-h eoast of Japan, but apparently lioi to any of thg_ large r towns. 1 hc vei.m* of the earthquake was on the ..mai bed* near the eastern entrance oi ho Inlard Sea., I'ossibly World's Largest Shake The Japanese Home Ministry repur.s that 13 factories were destroyed at Kochi. The damage and loss of life are reported heavy at Wakayama, which is an important railway Cetit ro. In Hiroshima, which is beginning to avise anew from the atom bomb rubble, the earthquake demolished 25 hou.'-os and damaged 730 newly-built ho.'uos. There was 110 serious damage at Toi .0, where thousands swarmed into j the -treets, fearing a repetition of the , 1(J2:; disaster. Some Americans | tushi'd out in freezing weather clad ' only in their night clothes. General MacArthur's headquarters said when the earthquake was felt, tidal wave fwarnings were flashed to all vessels ;in southern J ipanese waters as a prefaaution.

The underwater earthquake. possibly the world's heaviest, and " the tidal wave it erupted, reaped death and d'estruction over 15,000 stjuare iniles of southern Japan, according to later messages. , The full death roll is not yet ob- , taiyable, btit it is estimated at 1500. : However, oceupation and Japanese 3 authorities are confining their reports ] to the known deaths. 1 Six Tidal Waves Strike Town 1 t Thinly-clad residents of Kainan, a jtown just south of AVakayama, with a pulation of 26,000, climbed on the tops of their houses and watched a series of tidal waves roar through, cleaning it out. The iirst wave struck ihe town at about 5.30. / The second Wave, whcih was worse, oeeurred 40 minutes later. It was a wall of water More than -10 feet high, and it struck ihe town with terrifying fbrce. After shattering the breakwater, the water camg through the streets in torrents, flooding every house, washing away iiii'niure, bearing down fences, uptooting trees, and sweeping away Wery'loose object, including vehicles. The last of the six waves came at 8.80 a.m. There has been no' conjMunieation with Awaji Islanu, at the

eastern end of the Inland Sea, which was in the path of the wave as it sped through Kii Strait. Heavy damage is expected at Awaji, because the water would rush from the open sea through the narrowing straits as through a funnel. Imperial University sCientists consider that the disturhance originated in the outer Pacific earthquake fault line Tunning from New Zealand northwards s through the Solomons and along the north South American coast. British military communications on Shikoku were damaged and communications with Kochi severed. British' United Press' Tokio correspondents says it is stated that one British soldier is definitely known to be dead, and several more are missing.