MUCH DAMAGE REPORTED

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 139, 17 June 1929, Page 10

MUCH DAMAGE REPORTED

NELSON AND WESTPORT SUFFER BADLY

Ofte; of the most severe-and prolonged earthquakes of recent yekra occurred this morning. It was felt.over practically the whole of the 1 North Island, and extensively in. the South, but seems to have been most severe in the northern part.of the South Island. The main shock was felt in Wellington at 10.19 and continued for sometime, long enough to alarm many persons and to send people hurryirig^ but of their homes. Although little damage was done locally, in the Blenheim and Nelson districts the,effects of the earthquake, were'much more severe and considerable alarm was caused. An unusual and alarming feature of the shock was that it was accompanied by sounds like muffled explosions, proceeding from the direction of Cook Strait. .....

The.Post Office, Town Hall, ana many other clocks bore silent testimony to the time when Wellington first felt the earthquake, stopping at 10.19 a.m. The first tremors were very similar to other shakes" that have occurred, and were not very alarming. But they persisted for longer ■. than : usual, and gradually, became, more'intense, and as the seconds rolled by apprehension increased. The movement, at first undecided, became distinctly one frpm south-west to north-eastj'.well-marked osoillatioiis continuing fdi- over a minute. ...Buildings swayed an £L creaked ."oininously, so that in many'cases', there was a hurried exodus into the streets. No buildings, however, .s.ecm to show little, if. any, serious effects, the. damage done being apparently confined, chiefly to broken windows. Movable objects were in many places shifted' off shelves, and suspended light fittings swayed for some lfiinutjes. Fortunately there was ' Ho jolt; and'the' s\yaying.; gradually sobsided.', '„..■ . ■ : .- ■ Eleven : .;mijiut&s after' th c -first- shockthere was .another., distinct movement, but ofSfar less intensity." It. was about this time that-in. all parts of the city and subtob's'were heard noises like muffled',explosions,; "a cause of further alarm and wild rumours. At the Dominion Observatory at Keltmrntli.6 earthquake threw out.of action altogether". the seismologieal . instruments, which are designed for the recording of long-distance earthquakes lather than local ones. But the amount of dislocation"'was considerably more tnan a,ny that has previously occurred. The observatory-clocks, too, were put out of action, the pendulums being forced t« swing ; at .quite many angles. The earthquake recording instruments were as quickly as'possible: put into commission again, and- within about an hour were recording .the tail end of the shake. Tremors. L continued for some hours after: the" main.'. shock. Some of these eguicP'.be felt at the top of tall buldings, but hiost were tod .-.-■ faint for detection .by any means ex6ept seismologieal instruments.. ./^.' . ... ' : Various' estimates , have, bene- made as to the iehgth of t.iio main shock felt at 10.19. By Jhbse iii; sonic buildings the ■treih'ors.'coiiiclbe felt distinctly for as long; as a couplo of -minutes, with* minor tremors Occurifing later. Those in the/streets at the time give tho duration of the shock as between 4-5 seconds aud'a minute. There was quite a pronounced trenior-at 11.4. From the information, -.-"available the Government Seismologist, .Dr. C.' E. Adams, gives it as Jus opinion that the .centre of the .'earthquake . was somewhere itt. the northern portion of the Spiith- Island, possibly between JSTelson and Blenheim.: The shock seemed to be travelling in a S.S.W.N.N.E. ,direction, which would be the case if tho centre, was where he thought it was. The noises accompanying the earthquake were certainly an unusual phenomenon. They could be accounted for by- supposing that strata of rocks.in the disturbed area were rubbing against, each other. ;, The exact locality from .which; the sounds came would; be difficult to determine until all the information' had been cor-, related. It was the same with the earthquake shocks themselves. A3 the instruments, had been put out of action, at. any-rate until 1 some time after the-main shock, it would take some time to arrive at reliable details' and reckonings. :'