NATIONAL DISASTER

Wairarapa Times-Age, 2 January 1940, Page 7

NATIONAL DISASTER

TERRIBLE EARTHQUAKE HAVOC IN TURKEY Deathroll Still Mounting THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE FROZEN TO DEATH WHOLE NATION MOBILISED FOR TASK OF RESCUE (By Telegraph.—Press Association.—Copyright.) ISTANBUL, December I’ll. The whole Turkish nation is mobilised for the mighty task of rescuing' survivors of the earthquake. As forces are being' marshalled, the country is ag'ain trembling under new shocks, which scientists believe may continue for six months. The deathroll is mounting' hourly, as news from doomed towns filters out. Great chasms have split the snow-swept countryside. Entire villages have disappeared. Blizzards and rising flood-waters have joined forces with subterranean up heavals, making the plight of refugees terrible beyond endurance. Even fatalistic Turkey stands appalled at the magnitude of the disaster. Officials estimate the deathroll at between 30,000 and 50,000. Including injured and homeless with the dead, the casualty list exceeds 100,000. The region affected extends from Ankara to Erzindjan and from Samsoun to Kayseri. Most modern buildings of reinforced concrete collapsed. Today’s shocks in Amasia completely destroyed 25 villages. Only three of 350 inhabitants of the village of Turkmen survived. Other shocks were felt in Smyrna. The town of Dikili was seriously damaged. All rivers around are flooded. Trains reached Erzindjan, where it is now estimated, 30,000 were killed, representing 50 per cent of the population. Seventy pei' cent of the population of the province of Erzingan is believed to have perished. Aeroplanes circling overhead are continually dropping food, charcoal and clothing for thousands rendered homeless, who are seeking refuge in the fields. Thousands who escaped from this city were frozen io death. Temperatures are 30 degrees below zero. Many people are (dad only in night attire.

SNOW BLOCKS ROADS Snow is blocking roads and railways and the breaking-down of bridges is frustrating the removal of the homeless from tents which afford insufficient shelter against the blizzard to houses in Central and Southern Anatolia which were placed at their disposal. Crevasses engulfing railway lines halted relief trains. Those destined for Erzingan were snowed under at Sivas, where Ministers controlling the relief work were stalled until thousands of workers and soldiers cleared the line within 24 hours, enabling trains to arrive with the aid of snow ploughs. Trains, ships and lorries are crawling to the scene. One of three trains which reached Erzindjan departed laden with injured. A steamer, laden with food and medicines, left for the Black Sea coast. All hope of rescuing those entombed in villages and towns has been abandoned. Rescue efforts are being concentrated on survivors scattered throughout an area of 60,000 square miles. Complete evacuation of certain districts is likely in order to avoid epidemics. Estimates of the numbers killed are: Giresun, 10,000; Kastamonu. 100; Kigi, 1200; Zara, 1500; Kamah, 1000. In other areas the numbers range from 200 to 3000 according to the size of the towns. MANY DROWNED IN FLOODS Floods in the Smyrna region inundated Karacabey Valley, containing 14 towns and villages. The river Simavcayi overwhelmed Kernel Pasa, near Bursa, marooning inhabitants on rooftops and drowning many who tried to escape. Military authorities and the Red Crescent are sending tents and clothing by boat from Mudanya. Three other rivers, including the Karadere burst their banks. Fortyfour earthquake shocks were registered in 4 hours in the Sivas district, throwing people into a further panic. The Governor of the town of Kuyuluhissar reports that 20 per cent of the population have been killed and the remainder are injured. The prison collapsed, killing 20 convicts and all officials. Hundreds of schoolchildren perished when a school collapsed. Three officials survive. Similar scenes occurred in Zaza,

Susehri and Ispala, where every gendarme perished. An engineer who entered Erzindjan reported that there were frantic appeals for help in the doctorless city, where flames and snow contended for mastery amid the screams of victims. The governor and the mayor were the only official survivors, but the ordeal drove the mayor mad. The Director of the Istanbul Observatory considers that, the violence of the earthquake shows that the geological disturbance was 16 miles deep, which will take a long time to settle. New Year’s Day will be observed as a day of mourning in Turkey instead of the customary holiday. Crowds besiege post offices and newspaper offices for news of relatives. Offers of monetary help are pouring in locally and also from Geneva, where the Red Cross is promising a record relief fund. The British Government sent £25,000 and France 5,000,000 francs to the relief fund. MILLIONS HOMELESS FLOODS IN ARIiAS RIVEN BY EARTHQUAKE. NEW TERROR SWEEPING COUNTRY. ISTANBUL, January 1. A new terror is sweeping western Turkey, as flood waters from rivers in the Smyrna, Brusa and Adrinonole districts devastate the countryside. ..Inhabitants, cattle and crops are engulfed in the growing torrent, which has produced another great army of homeless, totalling millions. The earthquake riven areas, north and east, suffered further shocks, specially at Tokat and Erzindjan which are now completely effaced and have become a vast graveyard of tombstoned, snowcapped ruins. Half-frozen survivors are storming relief trains, wolfing food. Many are reported to have become insane and to have been removed to asylums. It is estimated that 550 villages in the Erzindjan Province are in ruins.