A FAULT FOUND.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 19668, 11 July 1929, Page 9

A FAULT FOUND.

EIGHT MILES FROM MURCHISON. PROBABLE CENTRE OF THE EARTHQUAKE. An upthrust thirteen feet wide has been discovered in the rock formation in the hills, eight miles west-north-west of Murchison. This is probably part of the main fault, and investigation is almost certain to show that this is the scat of origin of the big earthquake, according to Mr H. F. Skey, seismologist at the Christchureh Magnetic Observatory, who returned yesterday, aftT having spent about a week in the Murchison district. This was a significant discovery, said Mr Skey. He had not seen the place himself, but Mr Fyfe, a Government geologist, had first come across it. The fault looked like a big step, the lower part having sunk thirteen feet, leaving the other part of the ground vertically above it. It was not very far distant from one of the recognised lines of fault, and seemed to run across the Buller valley, and parallel to the Lyell range. The upthrust would be further studied and its nature determined. There was little doubt that the centre of origin of the earthquake was in this vicinity. It did not originate on the Bea bottom, though there might have been a subsidiary disturbance there. Booming sounds were still being heard in the valleys around Murchison, and these were more alarming to the residents who were left, than the minor shocks. They had been going on for years, but had not caused much concern to the settlers. He had noticed that those noises followed by shocks were of a peculiar nature, being something like the spluttering of a motorcar about to start. A sound-ranging apparatus was being taken to the spot to detect the origin and direction of these noises. During Mr Skey's stay at Murchison there were many shocks, but practically no severe ones. A test had been made by placing a line of bottles upside down on a concrete floor. It had been several days before any of them had toppled over. This showed that the aftershocks had little energy, and produced little horizontal movement. This further confirmed him in his opinion that the big movement was over, and that the subsidiary shocks were merely the earth settling to rest. Mr Skey did not consider that there was any danger of floods in the Buller river from its tributaries being dammed. In the Maruia the water had washed most of the mud and rubbish away, to clear a fairly free passage. In the Matakltaki, where the biggest slip, about half a mile wide, occurred, the stream had been dammed up completely, until it had risen so far as to flow over the top. The action of the water would wash some of the mud and debri3 away, but the rock in the river was too big and too solid for the water to shift it. Thus the Matakitaki had an outlet for its water, but this must rise to a high level before it could flow over the barrier. Consequently much of the water had backed up and flooded neighbouring farms, and the water must be drained off these before they could be rendered habitable again. Minor slips were still coming down in the valleys, but this was nothing to be alarmed at, and the heavy rain afte? the big earthquake had washed most of the loose soil away.

There were only a few farms in the Murchison district which would not be able to be resumed. One or two had been permanently buried beneath the landslides, while parts of others had become useless through falls of rocks. But in most cases damage was only temporary and there was no reason why settlers should not carry on as before, when cleaning-up operations had been carried out. Of course, damage to the homesteads and houses in Murchison had been considerable, but much of it was not beyond repair. Keports of the general effect of the earthquake had not been exaggerated by the newspapers, and anyone reading them was able to get a correct impression of what the position was. . The electric turbine at Murchison had been put out of action, and it would be some time before it was at work again, so Murchison was without electric light. Mr H. F. Baird, of the Magnetic Observatory, who accompanied Mr Skey to Murchison, has gone to Takaka to investigate various phenomena there. He will also carry out further research in conjunction with other Government officers in the Murchison district and is

not expected back for about a week.