EARTHQUAKE IN WELLINGTON

Press, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23811, 3 December 1942, Page 4

EARTHQUAKE IN WELLINGTON

Sharp Shock Felt

LITTLE DAMAGE REPORTED

(0.R.) WELLINGTON, December 2. With many buildings in the business area of the city still in splints after the last earthquake on August 2, and only half of the 10,000 chimneys in the city then brought down since rebuilt, Wellington was alarmed to-day when a noisy earthquake rocked it at 12.20 p.m. Very little damage was done. The earthquake was of an intensity of between five and six on the RossiForel scale, six being the point at which such earth movements are felt by all and generally waken the people at night. The crockery on shelves and sideboards rattled, electric lamps swung, and most buildings creaked and groaned under the stress of the shake. After their experiences of a few months ago Wellington residents were alarmed, but nowhere was panic reported. Many in buildings rushed for cover under doorway arches, others ran out into the open, but the majority stayed where they were. The earthquake was not felt at all at Auckland, Christchurch, Napier, and Dunedin, according to a report by Mr S. A. Ogilvie, Deputy-Director-General of the Post and Telegraph Department, read to the House of Representatives this afternoon by the Prime Minister. His report said that the earthquake was severe at Masterton (which was badly damaged on June 24), but although alarm was widespread' no appreciable damage was caused. At Shannon the shock was sharp, without causing damage. A short, strong shock was felt at Feilding. where no damage was reported, and a heavy shake but no damage was also reported from Palmerston North. The earthquake was slight at Nelson, Blenheim, Wanganui, and Hawera.

Falling chimneys were reported to the Wellington police as a cause of damage in II places, but three places wore severely damaged. They were Selfridgc’s store in Thorndon quay. No. 29 Parish street, where factory girls were anxious as to the condition of the building, and the promises in Cuba street of the Wairarapa Butchers, whose building, damaged fairly extensively, was evacuated. A house in Waitoa road was also evacuated. Earlier Repair Work'

After the August earthquake 450 buildings in Wellington city wore inspected, and 350 wore found to require attention. So far only 50, at the most, of these buildings have been attended to. The reconstruction involved the removal of heavy parapets, the removal, if necessary, of top storeys, and the placing of a concrete band round the top of the buildings. This work was first carried out at the City Council’s traffic department building at the corner of Mercer and Cuba streets, and this building showed no signs of damage after to-day’s shake. But the shortage of labour has prevented the remodelling work being carried out at the maximum pace, and it was anticipated that at the present progress the reconstruction of the damaged buildings in the city area would take at least two years. There are still a number of large unsafe buildings, and it will not be until a thorough inspection has been made that the effects of to-day’s earthquake will be determined. 5000 Chimneys Rebuilt

As in June, buildings in the Te Aro flat area were reported to have been most heavily shaken. Many householders had justifiable cause for alarm after the earlier earthquakes. Many homes were unable to use their fireplaces, and those occupants relying on ranges for cooking were forced to cook, when the winter weather allowed them, out in the open. A scheme was drawn up for the rebuilding of one chimney only for each house which had lost chimneys, and since August 5000 chimneys have been built, the owners paying for the size and type of chimney built. An equal number of chimneys have yet to be rebuilt, and the estimate has been made that the cost of the winter earthquakes to properly holders for damaged chimneys alone will roach £OO.OOO, Indeed, only about 20 per cent, of the damage caused in June and August has been repaired so far.

"This was not a bad shake by any moans,” said the City Engineer (Mr J. P. Luke) this afternoon, “but it does bring home the absolute necessity of dealing with buildings that have stood 100 long now in a weakened state. The whole problem is that of men to do the work.”

BUILDINGS CREAK AND RATTLE

DETAILS GIVEN OF DAMAGE (P.A.) WELLINGTON, December 2. The earthquake in Wellington City and Province to-day, though less severe than those of June 24 and August 2, which occurred in the middle of the night, was even more alarming, because it started buildings swaying at the height of the noon-hour tush. Parapets and tops of tall buildings leaned out momentarily over thousands of people in the streets. There was no panic. Further damage was done by the earthquake, which occurred at 12.14 p.m., and buildings weakened by the two previous shakes were seriously imperilled while it lasted. It was felt more in some parts of the city than in others. Accompanied tw a rumbling noise, the preliminary seismic waves set up a short rattling movement in buildings, followed by a swaying which gradually died down. There was an impression of three successive shocks, but it was all part of one movement, which had a varying intensity. It was described as a fainy strong earthquake with a duration of about three-quar-ters of a minute.

People on the streets heard buildings creaking and rattling loudly. With the first shock, two large buildings near the centre of the city were seen to pull away from each other and then slam back with a noise like a sham explosion. They reeled under the impact, and clouds of dust rose out from between them, but no structural damage was done. Telegraph posts swayed, and the parapet of the old library building appeared about to crack as it hung out for an interminable few seconds over Mercer street, but it regained its stability. Within 10 minutes of the earthquake the old library building was roped off for safety measures. The Town Hall, now under repair, was further weakened. Plaster and pieces of brickwork fell, cracks were found to have opened wider, and the building generally was in a worsened state. Certain city buildings which were considered to be in need of repair after the last earthquake, but work on which had been held up because of the shortage of labour, were stated now to have developed very obvious faults. Reports were being received of entirely new damage to buildings, and negotiations were proceeding with the Commissioner of Defence Construction to have more men made available for repair work.

“The force of the shock as felt here would be about five on the Rossi-Forel scale,” said the Dominion Seismologist (Mr R. C. Hayes), at the Dominion Observatory at Kelburn. "From reports of people in the city, however. it might have been as high as six there. I do not think this was an aftershake of the June and August shocks, as the siesmographs are registering quite a number of aftershocks, and those would not follow anything but a climactic shock. The source of to-day’s shock, however, may very well be in the same area as the earlier earthquakes this year. The interval between the arrival of the primary and secondary waves was again approximately 10 seconds, corresponding to a distance of about 50 miles from here, and the movement of the tremors seems to be in the same relative direction as on the previous occasions.”