Rensselaer Republican, Volume 26, Number 38, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 May 1894 — GREAT LOSS OF LIFE. [ARTICLE]

GREAT LOSS OF LIFE.

Probably 10,000 People Killed by an Earthquake. Several Cities and Villages In Venezuela Destroyed on the 28th of last Month—Details Still Meager. The New York Herald’s Caracas dispatch says a terrible earthquake took place in Venezuela on April 28. Reports which have been received here from ths districts affected tell of terrible loss of life and destruction of towns and villages. The cities of Merida, LaQuinillas.Chiguara and San Juan, situated in the northwest of the Republic, in the region of the Andes, are reported as having been totally destroyed by a fierce shock at 11 o’clock on the night of the 28th. Many villages arc said to be wrecked, but the details are not yet at hand. The convulsion extended to parts of the adjacent republic of Colombia. The full details of the catastrophe will be learned slowly, but it is probable that ten thousand people have perished, and It is certain that the greatest suffering prevails in the places visited by the earthquake. The United States minister hem has notified the State Department at Washington of the terrible effect of ths catastrophe, and has asked that assistance be given to the people of the stricken districts.