Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-01-16
OAXACA WRECKAGE
SECURED FOR DEAD
Soldiers and Volunteers
Search for Victims of DiSaS-
trouS Earthquake.
NJ the Associated Press.

~ the Associated Press
MEXICO CITY, January 16.-Pretty
Oaxaca, four centuries old, Spanish
and Indian city of $4,000, lay in ruins
today while soldiers and volunteers
searched the debris for victims Of We'd
nesday nights earthquakes.
Eleven bodies were in morgues and
estimates on the number of dead ran
rs high as 4s. The injured list was
much larger, while estimates on damage
10 the city range from so to 80 per
cent.
About "a miles of the railroad be-
tween Oaxaca pronounced Wa-Ha-Ca)
and Puebla and Mexico City were torn
up or covered with earth and stones
during the disturbance, which caused
damage in every state of Southern
Mexico, but seemed to center in Oaxaca
state.
Three Others Killed.
Outside of Oaxaca three deaths were
reported. These were all in Mexico
CITY, where an elderly woman was
buried under falling masonry, Agar
old girl received injuries of which she
died yesterday. and Nicolas Peniagua,
a chemist, was fatally injured. SIX
others here are gravely injured. Fifty
persons received minor injuries.
From Mazatlan, Southern Sinaloa,
today came reports that a submarine
volcano was belching smoke and steam
some distance from the shore. Dead
fish, believed to have been killed by
the fumes or shock of the seismic dis
turbances, have been thrown onto the
beaches for 10 days.
Rescue work in Oaxaca was mpeoeo
BY the general nature Of the destruc-
ton. With virtually every house made
unsafe for occupancy, the inhabitants
took to the fields, despite bitter cold,
and slept there under such shelter as
could be improvised.
Similar conditions were reported in at
least four towns near Oavaca and In
many smaller hamlets and villages
throughout the southern part Of the re-
public.
Had Been Damaged Before.
It is not the first time that Oaxaca
has been damaged by earthquakes. 1t
suffered severely in 1927 and in 1877,
the famous old cathedral being badly
damaged in the 1927 tremors. The city
was founded by Indians in 14S6 and
conquered by troops of Cortes in 1921.
In 1929 CorteS was given the title,
Marquis of the Valley of the Oaxaca, by
the King of Spain. Since then he has
been known in Mexico by the name
Marquis" much as Columbus is some
times known as the Admiral. Cortes
once made the city his home. It was
the birthplace of Benito Juarez, con-
uueror of Macmillan, and has been
given the official name Oaxaca de
Juarez
The buildings in Oaxaca were mostly
Of one and two story construction, built
with a view to resisting earthquakes.
Mexico City's escape from being
damaged any more than it was is laid
to the blanket Of soft earth on which
the city is founded. This acted as
shock absorber. It prevents any high
buildings being constructed. In the
days Of the conquest the city was laid
out much after the manner of Venice,
with canals instead of streets. The
water later was drained from the valley.
CAN for Help.
Urgent appeals for aid In the state
of Oaxaca were received today by the
Oaxaca congressional delegation here.
A message from the Governor of OAK
AGA said the military medical depart
ment there was directing the incinera-
ton of bodies, not only those of the
earthquake victims but also Of a num-
Der disinterred in the cemeteries as the
earth rocked ~