The Wilmington morning star., 1946-08-05
MORE ABOUT
EARTHQUAKE
FROM PAGE ONE


FROM PAGE ONE
through to San Juan at 1890 pm.
(EDT) due to tie earthquake.
No Telephone Calls
Telephone executives said there
were at least so calls 'ln ahead OF
amy priority call" and there will
be at least a two-hour delay"
1.-THE earthquake very definitely
was conferred in the Pc to Rican
area" the Miami Navy hurricane
station reported.
Marion H. Gilmore, geophysicist
for the station, said that seismo-
graph readings from the Nays
three stations in the Caribbean
were only seconds apart, indicating
that the center of the shock was
either on, or very near, the island
of Pc to Rico.
Life Toll Probable
Seismologists, startled and ex-
cited by its violence, said that if
it struck a heavily populated
region. it probably took a heavy
toll of lives.
The quake was recorded at the
Navy Air station near San Juan,
Porto Rico, at 1:4s pm. (EDT)
and the tremors were continuing
two hours later.
The shock was felt in London,
New York and California and all
seismologists agreed that it was
one of the heaviest quakes of re-
cent history.
Center of the quake was not i'm
mediately determined but it was
roughly located near Porto Rico
and Santo Domingo. A seismologist
in England said that if it occurred
on the ocean floor it would roll UP
great tidal waves.
Rum Barrels Burst
At Ponce, on the south coast of
Porto Rico-the opposite side from
San Juan-the quake shook barrels
of rum from their racks and sent
them bouncing into the street
where they burst.
Argentine seismologists placed
the quake either in the West Indies
or along the coast of Venezuela or
the Guinas in South America.
They described it as a quake of
disastrous intensity"
Cable offices reported that no
damage had been reported in the
Virgin islands at St. Christopher's
island (St. Kitt's).
The Naval Air station at Roose-
welt Roads, Porto Rico, reported
to the Navy in Miami that a very
severe'' and continuing quake was
recorded. The seismograph stuck
at the extreme position on the
first shock wave. The instrument
was repaired and was recording
shocks two hours after the first
wave.
Instruments Knocked Out
Karl Maring, S. j., director of
the seismograph station at Loyola
university at New Orleans, said his
instruments indicated that the up
heaval was on the floor of the
ocean some 500 to 800 miles south
asst of the Crescent City. He had
two of three instruments knocked
out by the shock wave.
Pan American also received q
message from the Dominican Re
public, reporting a slight earth
quake" there at Isl p. m.
SeiSmographs at the California
Institute of Technology at Pasa-
dena recorded tremors described
as "one of the worlds greatest
earthquakes'-in the same class
as the mighty quake which de-
vastated San Francisco in 1905.
Largest In So Years
Fordham university in New York
City reported that the quake was
the largest" recorded in the SO
years since its seismograph was
installed. Father Joseph Lynch,
head of the observatory, said he
believed the quake was conferred
off Porto Rico which lies 900 miles
southeast Of Miami.
So evere was the temblor it
threw the pointer off the recording
chart of the sesmograph at Yves
ton college, Weston, Mass.
Seismologists at the California
Institute of Technology believed
the quake was conferred north of
Santo Domingo and northwest of
Porto Rico. They thought the full
force may have been in an unhabit-
ed section.
Most of the West Indian islands
are the submits of a submerged
mountain chain and earthquakes
are frequently recorded. On May
8, 1902, a volcanic eruption of
Mont Pele destroyed the capital
city of St. Pierre On the island of
French Martinique, killing an esti-
mated 10000 persons. Martinique
lies 400 miles southeast of Porto
Rico.
Northwest of Porto Rico and
north of Santo Domingo, which in
cludes Haiti and the Dominican
Republic, lie the Turks and Caicos
Islands, a group belonging geo.