The Washington herald., 1907-10-31

ton, numbering about 15OO. was buried
by mountain slide following the recent
earthquake there
ST. Petersburg. Oct 50-A dispatch from
Tashkend says that the destruction Of
Karatagh was practically a repetition Of
the disaster which occurred at Andijan
some time ago. The statement that the
only survivors were the governor and his
mother was incorrect.
Although a majority Of the Inhabitants
were killed, some escaped because Of the
fact that the houses in which they re-
sided were only one story high. which
enabled them 70 rush TO the open before
the walls crUmbled. The total number Of
dead is not known. but it is great.
Situated Among Mountains.
Karatagh was situated in the midst Of
the Karategin range Of mountains i'm
Bokhara. a khanate Of Central Asia. and
a vassaI state OF Russia. Bokhara. which
I is sometimes broadly understood as Turk
estan. is an unusually mountainous coun-
try.
The surface in the western part is
largely arid plains and deserts. but in the
center and east it is very mountainous.
with the Hissar mountains along the
northern frontier. the Babatagh in the
desert center. and the Karategiu on Peter
the Great ranges in the northeast and
east.
The climate shows extremes Of heat and
cold, the temperature ranging from l07 in
the shade 70 10 degrees. Earthquakes and
landslides are Of frequent occurrence,
hich probably accounts for the great
loss Of life at Karatagh With seismic
disturbances as common as they are in
that quarter Of the world, il is likely the
people OF the doomed town failed 20 take
cognizance Of the preliminary warnings
Mineral Wealth Important.
Cotton. tobacco, indigo. wool. silk. grain.
and various fruits and vegetables are ex-
| tensively cultivated IN Bokhara. the
grapes and apricots being especially
noted. Fine horses. shawl goats and cam
els are bred. The mineral wealth of the
country is important
The inhabitants include people of many
races - Kirghizes. Turkomons. Talks.
Arabs. Hebrews. Afghans. &c.
The city of Bokhara. the capital OF the
khanate is situated about - miles west
Of Karatagh. 1t is an important CONNER
cial center Of Central Asia. having exfer-
sive manufactures Of cotton. silk and
/ woolen goods. wooden wares. iron. Ieath-
CT. &c.
As the date on which the town OF Kara
tagh was destroyed is not gwen. il is
( possible that the earthquake Was the one
| recorded I'm this country and in Europe
on October %. Tt was surmised az the
time that the disturbance had occurred
in the Southern Indian Ocean.
While the amount Of movement record
ed in this country was relatively very
small. only about oue-hundredth Of AN
inch the duration OF the so-caIled strong
motion was very great-about one hour
and il would appear that the earthquake
must have been of considerable intensity
at the origin
A remarkable concurrence Of scientific
records on the night of October % showed
that severe earthquake had occurred
somewhere. beginning at 11:4S O'Clock that
night and lasting until 1:15 on the follow
ing morning. The seismograph ar the
local weather bureau recorded the shocks
as did the one at Albany and instruments
at London. at Laibach Austria. and on
the Isle of Wight. The duration of the
shocks indicated their severity. but the
location Of the disturbances was not made
known until dispatches from st. Peter
burg reported shocks I'm Central Asia. ir-
cluding Samarkand. in Russian Turkestau
where the damage was extensive. b1lt
where no heavy loss Of life was enfsiIed
Sattakurgan, KhOkand and other places
were also shaken at the time, but Kara
tagh, 100 miles away. escaped only to be
buried under a landslide caused by the
disruption Of the earth in the vicinity.
First In Many Months.
Excepting the recent earthquakes in
Calabris, the disaster reported yester-
day is the first of consequence since the
devastation Of KingstOwn. Jamaica on
January a last, when / Zoo persons were
killed.
san Francisto's earthquake is StiH go
fresh in memory as TO make mention Of
it superhuous. Other disastrous earth
quakes. chronologically arranged. oc-
CURED as follows.
Lisbon. destroyed in November. 1755.
with a loss Of life Of 10000.
St Lucia. the British West Indies dew
astated in October, l7N. and 1900 per-
sons killed
Aleppo. Asiatic Turkey. DESTROYED in
lS22 with loss of 30,O0 lives
In 1S29 over 900 persons perlsbed
through earthquakes, which razed many
buildings i'm Spain.
Canton. China was partly DESTROYED in
1850 with great loss of life.
Calabria. Italy, suffered in 1875 and
coo persons met death.
Port Royal, Jamaica. was DESTROYED in
1893 The loss of life reached about I on
Santo Domingo was visited by shocks in
1872 Cape Haytien devastated and about
500 lives lost
Shortly after the San Francisco dis
aster. on August t. 1906. VaInaraiso
Chile. WAS almost entirely DESTROYED and
1000 lives lost The damage TO property
amounted 10 sJ0.00000. The foreeoin.
does not include widespread SHOCK
which in 1927 shook the country from
Santa Fe, y. NJ. 70 Panama, with a
loss Of lice reaching nearly 5000.