San Francisco Chronicle
Wednesday, July 13, 1927 - page 1

TWENTY TOWNS DAMAGED BY LONG SERIES OF TEMBLORS

Hundreds Injured; Most Casualties Reported in Transjordania

Jerusalem in Terror; Fearing Shock Recurrence; Bridges Down

LONDON, July 12 (AP)

According to latest Cairo dispatches, British military aviators in the Palestine earthquake area estimate the number dead at more than one thousand, with most of the casualties in Transjordania.

The Daily Mail cites the reports of one aviator, saying that 72 were killed at Maan, 80 at Ramleh and 100 at Amman.

British Air Force Depot at Amman Destroyed

The top of the new mosque, many houses and the British air force depot at Amman were destroyed.

The Cairo correspondent of the Daily Express reports 300 dead at Amman and eighty at Ludd, adding the description of an eye witness from Amman how a house there seemed suddenly riven from top to bottom as with an axe.

The Daily mail reports that at Jericho there was but one victim, this being the wife of Sir Syed Abdul Raouf, former judge of the high court at Allahabad who was on her way home from Mecca.

More Than Twenty Towns Damaged by Shocks

More than twenty towns were affected by the long series of earth shocks, the heaviest losses of life being at Nablus, Ludd, Ramleh, Es Salt, with other deaths scattered over a large area. Beersheba and Gaza were not touched.

Revised figures from Ludd show that in addition to eighty persons dead, there are seventy injured there.

Four persons were killed at Hebron.

Safad and Tiberias were slightly affected.

The air force was used extensively at Ramleh and Ludd and rendered splendid service, said reports.

Many Casualties When Nablus Bazaar Falls

A late report from Nablus stated that most of the casualties took place when a bazaar collapsed. work of recovering the bodies was begun immediately.

According to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Jerusalem this morning had the appearance of having passed through a military siege as the result of yesterday's earthquake.

The streets were filled with crowds, the people hesitating to enter the houses in fear of a recurrence of the earthquake and possible collapse caused by a weakening of the foundations.

A scientific record of the earthquake, made by seismographic apparatus in Tel Aviv, shows that the earthquake moved from north to south.

The Allenby Bridge was damaged at both ends. Other bridges are down. The Greek Catholic Church of the Holy Sepulchre has been declared unsafe because of the cracks in the walls. The roof of the chemical laboratory of the Hebrew University on the Mount of Olives collapsed.

The Government House, located on the Mount of Olives, was badly damaged.

The private rooms of the High Commissioner, Lord Plumer, and Lady Plumer, who are now on vacation in England, were wrecked. This building was also declared unsafe by the authorities.

FEAR FOR MONUMENTS

A dispatch to the Daily Express from Cairo says authorities are seriously concerned over the fate of many of Egypt's renowned monuments in the event of further shocks. There have been several quakes varying in intensity in the last two years, including two in the past ten days and the center of the shocks grows nearer each time.

The center of yesterday's quake was estimated at less than 300 miles distant. It is reported that the quake caused a number of cracks in the Temple of Karnak, and had the center of the shock been 150 miles distant, instead of 300 miles, irreparable damage probably would have been done.

CAIRO, July 12 (AP)

An eyewitness who arrived here today by airplane from Transjordania said at least 300 persons were killed in yesterday's earthquake.

The movements of the earth lasted 40 seconds and were visible in the surrounding lava beds, the witness said, describing the effect as terrifying.

Desert bedouins everywhere were terrified by the earth movement.

While the earthquake was felt in Cairo, no damage was reported.