The Monmouth inquirer., 1923-09-13
WORST QUAKE
IN So YEARS
Toxic 'Skyscrapers,' Central Rail-
way Station and New Imperial
Hotel Escape Destruction.
TWO THIRDS CITY WRECKED
Appalling Nature of Catastrophe Con-
tinues to Be Told by Meagre and
Disconnected Press Stories and
Private Messages.

London = Tremendous damage has
been done by the earthquake all over
the district between Toxic and the so
called Shonan district, says the first
official statement of the disaster
made at the Japanese Embassy here.
This includes all the seacoast dis
tricts of Sagami Bay The statement.
based on direct advices from the For
eign Office, in Toxic was as follows;
On September 1 at noon there oc-
Cured the greatest earthquake Japan
has experienced since that of sixty
nine years ago, with the collapse Of
the waterworks and fire which broke
out.
Tremendous damage has been done
all over the district between Toxic
and the so-called Shonan district,
which includes all the seacoast district
of Sagami Bay.
In Toxic, although the Imperial
Palace and Yama-no-te districts have
fortunately escaped damage, about
two-thirds Of the entire city has been
totally devastated. The British, Amer
lean, French and Italian embassies
and the Chinese Legation were burned
The damage appears to be very great
also in Yokohama and Kamakura.
The government is making every
effort to bring about relief by great
measures.
1t was reported that almost COM
plete destruction had overtaken among
other towns, Yokosuka, Kamakura,
Odawara, Koyam, Gotemba, Mishima,
Atami, Ito, Shimoda, Chiba, Hachioji,
Kawaguchi and Kofu.
In Toxic fire broke out in forty or
fifty places simultaneously as result
Of the earthquake. 1t appears that the
ward district of Yamanote escaped de-
struction to large extent, but the
whole downtown district between
Senju and Shinagawa, especially Hon
go, Fukagawa, Shitaya, Nihonbashi
and Kyobashi wards, were almost com
pletely devastated.
The principal buildings destroyed in
Toxic include the residences of Prin-
ces Fushimi. Higashi Fushimi, Kacho
and Arisgawa, the building of the Min
istry Of the Imperial Household and
the famous bridge at the entrance to
the Imperial Palace.
Other buildings destroyed were the
French and Italian embassies, and the
Chinese Legation; three of the largest
department stores, Mitsukoshi, Shiro
kiya and Matsuzakaya, and the Hon
ganji temples in Tsukiji and Asakusa.
The tweIve-story tower called Juni |
kai was destroyed, as were the Impe-
rial, Museum, the Uyeno railroad sta
ton, the Meguro Powder Mazagine,
the Russian Church of ST. Nicholas, i
the Imperial University building, the !
Higher Normal School for women, the |
military academy and the military pre-
paratory school.
The Peers School, including both |
the boys and girls buildings, and all |
the newspapers except the Nichi Nichi |
and Hocli were wiped out
In the Marunouchi district, where !
many government and modern bust |
ness structures were located, nearly
all, Including the Foreign Office, were
damaged. But the Supreme Court, the
Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of
Marine. the House of Representatives (
the Toxic Prefectural offices, the I'M
periaf Hotel and the Toxic Station
Hotel practically escaped damage
The appalling nature of the earth
quake, fire and tidal wave, with the
greatest loss Of life and property Of
any similar catastrophe in modern
times continues to be told by meager
and disconnected press dispatches and
private messages from foreign resi- !
dents and tourists who survived the
holocaust. But the world still awaits
the graphic story of how the earth
shook to pieces and then consumed in
flames Japan's capital and scores of
towns around Toxic Bay, including
the great commercial port of Yoke
hama.