EARTHQUAKE IN CANTERBURY

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31586, 25 January 1968, Page 1

EARTHQUAKE IN CANTERBURY

Strong Tremor, But No Damage Noted

A strong earth tremor accompanied by a roaring noise swept across parts of Canterbury at 5.16 p.m. yesterday. No structural damage was reported and so far as is known electric power lines and gas mains were not affected.

The initial effect of the earthquake in Christchurch was that it tripped off an automatic fire alarm in a city building. Within minutes of the tremor the switchboard at “The Press” office was jammed with callers wanting to know if in fact there had been an earthquake, the strength of it, and where it was centred. The tremors were felt only slightly at Cheviot and at Greymouth, and not at all at Arthur’s Pass. A South Brighton woman outside in the garden said the ’quake felt “like a bus going past in the road.” Her i children inside the house called out to tell her that the i lamps were swaying and the : dishes in the kitchen were : rattling. A Papanui resident who described herself as “a Murchison earthquake refugee” also felt the rumble. She was concerned to know how serious it was as she had her family scattered about the Dominion. The astronomer-ln-charge of the Mount John Obervatory at Tekapo (Mr F. M. Bateson) said he had been inundated with telephone inquiries for an hour and a half after the tremors. However, nothing was felt at Tekapo. “The photographic evidence i

of the tremor from our seismic recording equipment is usually developed twice a week but we will develop the information tomorrow,” he said last night. “I have no idea where the centre of the earthquake was. Some inquirers have suggested it was in North Canterbury and others Timaru.” Little Effect The earthquake shook business premises violently in Rangiora. However, there were no reports of damage, and apart from causing some alarm the tremor had little effect. While most Ashburton housewives were preparing the evening meal yesterday, i sharp earthquake shook their stoves and cooking utensils, and rattled windows. Buildings in the commerdal area also shook as workjrs were making preparations to go home, and the severity >f the jolt caused a vehicle marked near the Hotel Somerset to slide into a gutter.

There were however many reports of windows and crockery being rattled in homes as far apart as Rangiora and Timaru. A second tremor at Timaru caused buildings to creak and sway.

The earthquake comprised two sharp jolts a second or two apart. Another housewife said the kitchen floor “seemed to roll under her feet”. ‘No Panic’ In the Hotel Somerset, where there were about 60 patrons in the private bar, the bar manager said that “suddenly the walls of the bar shuddered—everything just sort of moved”. The manager said there was no panic in the hotel. Although no structural damage to buildings had been reported late last evening, the Beach Road “Superette” had the large plate glass display window shattered. In response to a request from the owner of the shop (Mr E. Watt), the Ashburton police kept the building under regular surveillance during the night. Centre Not Known The Ashburton Electric Power and Gas Board reported no disruptions to power lines: and no complaints had been received by the Post Office late last night of faults in telephone lines. The Ashburton area is usually remarkably free of earth tremors causing major damage. Information about the epicentre could not be obtained last night from the seismological observatory in Wellington.