Los Angeles herald., 1891-11-24
1t Is Ranked As a National
Calamity.
The Most Terrible Catastrophe Ex-
perienced Since 1855.
Five Thousand People Killed and Two
Hundred Thousand Rendered Home
less by the Destruction of
Their Houses.
Associated Press Dispatches.

lew minutes before 7 o'clock in the
morning. 1t was the most severe ex-
perienced since the terrible catas-
trophe of 1855, and must be ranked as
national calamity. The gratest damage
to buildings and loss of life occurred in
the procedures Achii and Gifu. in
which nearly 1000 people were killed
outright and 1000 seriously wounded.
in those two procedures AZ ,0GG houses
were totally destroyed.
The disturbances were strongly felt
throughout thirty-one provinces. The
center seems to have been in Mino and
Dwarf, but even as far south as Higo
and as far north as Rikushu the dis
turbances were sensibly felt. The de-
struction of 10000 houses means that
zoo, 900 people have been rendered
homeless.
Up to November 9TH the earthquakes
still continued to be felt, but the inter
walls between them gradually increased
and the intensity of the shocks dimin-
ished. From the commencement of the
disturbances up to that date it is esti-
mated there were $500 shocks, or more
than one in every two minutes.
The town of Gifu, on the Tokaido rail
way, with a population of 10 900, was al
most entirely destroyed. Thirty-five
hundred out of total of 4400 houses in
the town were overthrown or burned;
747 people were killed.
In the town of Ogaki $500 houses were
overthrown, 1000 houses were burned,
700 people were crushed to death, and
1900 injured.
In the town of Takegahana nearly 600
houses were overthrown and a like
number burned, and over 100 people
killed.
In the town OF Kitagati Machi eighty
four people were killed.
The entire village of Entabatome was
destroyed and eighty people killed.
These towns are all in three prov
inces-Ezazi. Mino and Dwarf, and rep
resent total of 34OO killed and nearly
43, 900 houses totally destroyed.
Communication has not been opened
up to all the outlying points, but it is
now known that the total deaths will
exceed 5000.
Up and down trains on the Tokaido
railway were just meeting at Gifu sta
tion, the center of the seismic disturb
ances, when the first shock occurred.
The movement was so violent that the
passengers believed a collision had taken
place. From the windows, however,
they beheld the station in ruins. The
rumbling movement continued, and wide
cracks from two to three feet wide were
observed opening and closing in all di-
rections, volcanic mud and ashes being
thrown from some of them. So numer-
ous were these fssures that step in
any direction threatened destruction.
The passengers who made their way into
Gifu found immense heaps of ruins,
fallen houses. In almost every house
some unfortunates had been buried, and
their chances of escape were greatly di-
minished by conhagrations, which broke
out in many places. The railway line is
too much injured in both directions to
allow further progress of the train.
Roads were almost impossible by reason
of assures and landslides.
Kauo was found wholly in ruins, not
a house remaining upright. The town
of Kasamat suffered like Kauo, every
dwelling being mass OF debris.
The fact that there was marked sub
sidence of the earth's surface for large
area at Gifu, indicated that the latter
town was the center of the disturbance.
Shortly after the shock had levelled
thousands of houses in the town, and
while hundreds of people were lying
buried in the debris, flames burst from
the ruins, and swept from street to
street, famed by a strong northwest
wind. By O'Clock in the evening al
most every part of town was wrapped in
fire, and the inhabitants saved what
lew articles they were able to and fled
to the woods and hillsides. The fire
was not subdued until the forenoon of
October 18th, when almost the whole
town had been burned over.
The potteries in the procedures of
Dwarf and Mino, the great centers of
porcelain manufacture in Japan at Seto,
and other towns, were almost entirely
destroyed.
A shock experienced at Ogaki was 30
severe that scarcely sound house is
left standing, with the exception of the
castle, which, despite its 400 years,
stood the shock remarkably well.o
Gabo temple, belonging to the Shin
sect of Buddhists, was crowded with
worshipers. The temple fell, burying
at least fifty people. The ruins took
fire, and the shrieking victims were con-
sumed by the flames before the eyes of
the horror-stricken onlookers.
The loss of life in the three towns that
go to make up the city of Nagoya is vari-
ously estimated at from 750 to 1000.
On Friday, October 30th, 36S distinct
shocks were recorded. The embank-
ments of the Nagova, Shorai, Gojo and
Niko rivers were broken, and it is esti
mated that about half of $50 miles of
embankment damaged in the Gifu pre-
lecture, will have to be wholly rebuilt. |
The bed of the river Nee in the vicinity
OF Lizulomura was raised about feet.
Out OF 700 temples in Gifu prefecture.
more than one-third were totally de- |
stroyed. A heavy rainfall would cause |
nearly the whole of Gifu to be flooded. |
Many months will be required to repair |
the river embankments.
The total sum of money distributed |
Tor the relief of the sufferers, up to No
yember 9th, was nearly $11 900, while |
rice to the amount of $600,OO0 was also
distributed. The emperor and empress
made a donation of about $4,000 IRON
their privy purse.
The top of the sacred mountain OF |
Fusi- lama was rent asunder by the |
earthquake for distance of 1900 feet in
width and 800 in depth. Much OF the
destruction of houses is attributed to
poor material entering into the con-
struction of brick and stone buildings
and the excessive weight of the roofs.
Well-built wooden buildings suffered