The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1909-07-31
EARTHQUAKE
DEvASTATES
OLD MEXICO
Country Shakes from the At
IantiC to the Pacific by
Series of Shocks.
LOSS OF LIFE WILL NOT
BE KNOWN FOR SOME DAYS
PROPERTY DAMAGE ENORMOUS
so FAR NO AMERICAN RE-
PORTED AMONG VICTIMS.

. Q @ o o o 9 Q p . @ 9 q 9 @ g % 8
2 Acapulco, noted for its great q
. land-locked harbor. is the chief @
2 port Of call for steamers plying be- q
2 tween San Francisco and South q
g American ports. It's population is o
2 about 5000 The city ships hides, @
q cedar and fruit to san Francisco. o
@ It is situated in the state Of Guer- g
2 zero and is about 200 miles south g
. west Of the City OF Mexico. q
9 Chilipa, also in the state Of o
2 Guerrero, has a population OF q
g $500. It is about seventy-fiYe miles 81
@ from Acapulco @
. Chiipancingo is about twenty @
. miles from Chiipa and has a pop e,
. ulation of $500. The town was @
4. badly wrecked by an earthquake q
. in January, 1902. 9
. @ @ @ g q q q q @ g q q q @ 9 q
Mexico City, July SO.-CentraI Mexi-
co, from the Atlantic to the Pacific
and from Querato on the north 10
Oaxaca on the south, a distance COW
ering more than 1000 miles, was shaken
today by a series Of the most severe
earthquake shocks felt in the region for
a quarter Of d century.
Reports Of the loss Of life are not
complete. but the official figures show
that fourteen were killed outright and
more than a score perhaps fatally in
juTed. The towns of Acapulco and
Chipancingo have been partially de-
strOyed
First Shock Severe.
According 10 the observatory rec
Ords, the first shock Of the series was
felt at 4:15 a. m. 1t was very severe,
causing the bells of many cathedrals
Of this city to toll, breaking crockery
and in some instances levelling walls.
The people had hardly recovered from
the first fright when a second more Sc
we're shock drove nearly everybody To
the streets and plazas. This movement
lasted with marked severity for one
minute and thirty seconds. The tail
buildings Of the city swayed and q
number Of houses collapsed. Six per-
| sons were killed In Mexico City and its
| enYirOns. -Four persons are in hOspi-
tails, their recovery despaired Of.
Americans Escaped.
The large American colony escaped
unscathed. The poems were terribly
| frightened. For days they had been
| predicting disaster because the snow On
the peak of the volcano Popocatapet
/ visible from this city, has been melt
/ ing. An old Aztec legend declares that
/ when the snow on this volcano disap-
! pears so, too, will the city at It's base.
| The property damage here is slight.
| Some of the cathedral walls were
| cracked and scores of adobe walls were
| sent to the ground but the main BUSH
] ness district showed no signs Of the Sc
| we're shaking which it had received.
/ The observatory officials declare
/ Mexico City rests on an old lake bed,
/ the made ground upon which great
1 part Of the city rests acting as a spongy
mass. which neutralizes the severity Of
/ the shock.
/ All electric currents in the city were
/ shut off during the first shock and the
| city remained in darkness.
WalIins and Praying.
The wailng and praying Of the IN
dams in the public squares added to
the weirduess and painted an UnfOrget-
/ table picture on the minds Of the half
/ clad shiveTing hOTdes Of frightened
men, women and children who stood in
the drizzling rain waiting for daylight
When the sun shOne the people returned
! to their homes. Soon, however, a third
shock sent them again scurrying to the
/ streets. This was lighter than the
/ others.
When the Federal Telegraph compa-
ny attempted TO work the officials
found that the wires to the west coast
] were down. NO COMMIT ulCdLlOu Win
the state Of Guerrero, the center Of the
earthquake region Of Mexico, could be
established. After hours of efforts a
wire was opened by the roundabout
way Of the Isthmus Of Tehuantepec,
The first message came from the port
Of Acapulco and was directed to the d.
rector Of teIegraphs 1t read:
Acapulco is in ruins. The lOss.is in
calcUiable."
Loss of Life Unknown.
/ Communication was then lost. Short
~ after 2 o'clock another wire was
opened up direct to Acapulco. A mes
/ sage said the lower half Of the city had
been destroyed and that four bodies had
been taken from the ruins Later a
/ message from Chipancing0 stated that
three deaths had occurred there and
that the number Of injured was not
known. The barracks. national palace
and hospital there were badly dam
aged.
The American consul at Acapulco
telegraphed tonight that the shocks
were continuing with lesseued intensi-
Continued on PAGE 2.