Evening star., 1937-12-23
MEXICO IS ROCKED
BY INTENSE QUAKE;
DAMAGE UNKNOWN
TembIor So Violent G. U.
Seismograph Shows Wide
FIuCtuation.
CENTER UNDETERMINED;
= COMMUNICATIONS OFF
Two Are Killed and Number of
Adobe Huts Leveled in
Mexico City.
By the Associated Press.

By the Associated Press.
MEXICO CITY, Dec. ga heavy
earthquake shook Mexico City early
today, killing at least two persons
and crushing adobe homes at the
outskirts of the city.
Communications with cities in the
interior were disrupted and it is
thought possible they may have been
harder hit.
One report was that Toluca, south
ern part, was damaged. Puebla and
Cuernavaca were among the cities
from which no reports could be OBJ
tanned.
One aged woman was fatally in
jured here when the roof of her adobe
home collapsed and man was elec-
trocuted by broken high-tension
wire.
People Remain Calm.
A number of adobe huts at the
edge of the city collapsed The people
were calm, however, an occasional
Indian praying in the middle of the
street being the only sign of alarm.
A few rock walls also tumbled under
the temblor, which began at 7:l8 am.
1913 am, E.STD and lasted / min
ute, There was no damage to the
business section.
The 80 old lake beds upon which
the capital is built served to soften
the shock and it was believed these
prevented greater damage.
The quake created no unusual con-
Germ, for residents have learned to
take as matter of course the fire.
quent light temblors.
The National Observatory's seismo-
graph recordings were unreadable be-
cause passing train threw the record
ing apparatus out of commission 1t
was, therefore, impossible to determine
where the quake might have been felt
with heavier force.
No serious damage was reported
here.
cThe seismograph at Georgetown
University was so violently affected
by todays quake in Mexico that
the recording beam of light shifted
so rapidly the graph is hardly
legible. The quake was still in
progress at II o'clock The sever
est recording came at 9:05)
Today's temblor was preceded by
two very slight" earthquakes at the
Southern port of Acapulco on Sunday
night No damage was reported there,
however.
A tremblor was reported yesterday
in the direction of Mexico, but it's
exact location was not determined,
The Harvard University seismograph
station recorded a widespread area in
Southern Mexico affected by a quake
starting at 8:18 am. (E. S. T.). Thou
sands of miles were affected, DR.. L.
Don Leet said.
Dr. Leet estimated the disturbance
epicenter at 2,275 miles from Harvard,
which would place it roughly in the
mountainous region to the south of
Mexico City
Severe earth tremors caused acute
alarm through much of Southwestern
Mexico October 6, injuring several per-
sons when buildings collapsed at Chill
pancingo, capital of the State of
Guerrero.
Believed Off Coast.
NEW YORK, Dec. % P-The
Rev. Joseph ]. Lynch, director of
Fordham University's Seismographic
Observatory, today reported an earth
quake of destructive" intensity prob
ably off the Mexican Pacific coast
slightly north of Tehuantepec.
The first shock, he said, occurred
at 8:24.27 am, Eastern standard time
and the second at 8:2956.
He described the tremors as of about
half the intensity of the japanese
quake of 1928.
Today's shocks, he said, were the
latest of series of three disturb
ances, which started late Tuesday
night. The center of each successive
quake, he said, had been slightly
nearer the coast line. Today's, he
suggested, probably would be found
to be as near as possible the shore
line without actually having been on
land"
Recorded at Loyola u.
NEW ORLEANS, Dec. % (P.-
Father o. L. Abel of Loyola Uni
versity reported today the Loyola
seismograph recorded a severe earth
quake, which began at 7:21h am
&C. S. T) and was continuing at
8 am.
Father Abel estimated the quake
centered 1,500 miles from New Or
leans, but did not indicate the direc-
ton. He said the seismograph rec
ords showed a preliminary quake at
7:2lR am, secondary tremor at
7:2412 and long wave at 1925 am.