Late Advices Say Property Loss Is Heavy in All of Affected Towns
TEMBLOR AT DINNER TIME
Dispatch to Local House Says No Deaths Occurred Inside City
There are no authentic reports as to the number of casualties in the capital.
The earthquake was violent for more than five hours Thursday night, but since then the shocks have diminished in violence. It is reported that no buildings in San Salvador are habitable and that Santa Tecla and other neighboring towns are in ruins.
The fire in San Salvador could not be quenched because the water supply system had been destroyed.
The earth tremors continue and the volcano Jabali, near San Salvador, still is pouring out a shower of ashes within a radius of twenty miles around the capital. There have been no disorders.
SAN JUAN DEL SUR (Nicaragua), June 9 - Although the earthquake which shook San Salvador, capital of Salvador, and neighboring towns Thursday evening caused considerable destruction of property, it is not believed that the loss of life was very great. However, no authentic information of the casualties and damage caused by the earthquake and the simultaneous eruption of the San Salvador volcano is as yet obtainable.
Some of the principal commercial houses and theaters in San Salvador were destroyed, as were hundreds of smaller homes. The neighboring towns of Armenia and Quezaltepeque were virtually wiped out, and most of the casualties caused by the disaster occurred there. The large town of Santa Tecla, several miles west of San Salvador, suffered great property damage, but the loss of life there was small.
The earth shocks continue to be felt in the countryside around San Salvador, but they are diminishing in intensity.
The residents of the Salvadorean capital, according to the accounts of eye witnesses, were finishing the evening meal when the city and the surrounding towns began to shake. This was at 7 o'clock Thursday evening and almost simultaneously the San Salvador volcano began to throw out lava and ashes through freshly opened craters. The extremely low casualty list in San Salvador is believed to be due to the early hour of the disaster, as it enabled the inhabitants to flee to the streets and other open places as soon as the first shock was felt.
A torrential rain accompanied the earthquake and for six hours it fell without cessation, greatly increasing the sufferings of the inhabitants who had erected temporary shelters in the squares and public gardens.
Although the earth shocks were felt at a considerable distance from the center of activity, the departments of San Salvador and La Libertad were chiefly affected.
Funds for the relief of the earthquake sufferers are being raised in Nicaragua and Costa Rica.
NEW YORK, June 9. - Damage done by the earthquake to the city of San Salvador is not as great as was first feared, according to cable messages received today by Bloom Brothers, fiscal agents in the United States for the republic of San Salvador. The central and newer part of the city was said to have suffered less than the outlying portions and the suburbs.
Benjamin Bloom, head of the New York house, said the messages showed the principal loss of life had occurred in the suburbs. According to the messages, few if any lives were lost in the newer part of the city.
EAST LAS VEGAS (N.M.), June 9. - Boaz Long, American Minister to San Salvador, is safe from the earthquake there, according to a message received today by Judge E. V. Long, his father.
The following telegram from San Salvador was received in this city yesterday by Donald Lindo, assistant manager of Schwartz Brothers:
"Severe earthquake caused serious damage to several buildings but there was no loss of life. Earthquakes continue with less intensity. Telegraphic communication interrupted. There is no news from the departments. Fire destroyed several buildings."
Saturday, June 9, 1917
San Salvador, the capital of Salvador, with a population of 60,000, has been totally destroyed by the eruption of the volcano of San Salvador, at the foot of which the city lay.
The towns of Nejapa, Suchitoto (population 6000), Paisual, Armenios, Mejicanos, and Quezaltepeque (Guatemala) have also been destroyed.
A telegraphist who reached the edge of the ruins yesterday morning reported (says Reuter) that everything for a radius of 30 miles has been destroyed. Santa Tecla has also been destroyed.
The residents of San Salvador are camping out in the streets and parks. At the time the report was sent it had been raining for five hours.
Rain of Hot Ashes.
WASHINGTON, Friday
Mr. Long, the United States Minister at San Salvador, cabled to the State
Department that San Salvador has been visited by a devastating earthquake
and violent eruption. He declared that no loss of life had been reported, but
most of the buildings in the city had been rendered uninhabitable. The
tremors lasted for more than two hours.
During the earthquake the volcano of Quezaltepeque was in eruption, and fire, smoke, and hot ashes belched from the crater, dropping all over the city. An important business section was entirely destroyed by fire. - Central News
The Republic of Salvador
Salvador is bounded on the north by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala,
and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. With an area of 8130 square miles
(officially claimed to be 13, 150), the coast line of Salvador extends 200
miles, and is indented, particularly in the southeast, by several
good harbours, of which the most frequented are La Union, the roadstead
of Libertad, and Acajutla.
The rugged appearance of the country is increased by the presence of a considerable number of volcanos, none of which exceeds 8000 ft. in height.
Earthquakes are very frequent, especially in the region of the capital city, which has been wrecked eleven times since the middle o the sixteenth century.
The volcano of San Salvador came into existence in 1770, and is habitually active. In the center of Lake Hopango, in Salvador, which possibly occupies an ancient crater, a volcanic island arose in 1880, and reached a height of 160 feet.
Forty Dead In Towns Around San Salvador - Loss In Capital Unknown.
La Libertad, Salvador, June 9. - In the towns of Armenia and Quezaltepeque, near San Salvador, 40 persons were killed and 100 were wounded as the result of Thursday's earthquake, which was the most severe and disastrous felt in Salvador since 1873. Eighty of every 100 houses in Salvador were razed and the entire business section destroyed by fire.
There are no authenic reports as to the number of casualties in the capital.
The earthquake was violent for more than five hours Thursday night, but since then the shocks have diminished in violence. It is reported that no buildings in San Salvador are habitable and that Santa Tecal and other neighboring towns are in ruins. The fire in San Salvador could not be quenched because the water supply system had been destroyed.
The earth tremors continue and the volcano Jabali, near San Salvador, still is pouring out a shower of ashes within a radius of 20 miles around the capital. There have been no disorders.