RANGE LIMITED

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22289, 26 March 1947, Page 6

RANGE LIMITED

QUAKE AND SURGE ONLY LOCAL DAMAGE FOCAL POINT OFFSHORE The range of the tidal wave appears, from reports gathered from various sources, to have been limited between Young Nick's Head and Tokomaru Bay, with the effects of the surge diminishing rapidly north of Tolaga Bay. Most severely bit was the TatapouriPouawa section of the coast-line, with the surge retaining sufficient strength in the neighbourhood of Tolaga Bay to wreck bridges on the Waihau access road, formerly used by coast traffic in the coaching days. At Tolaga Bay itself the wave showed itself only as a huge swell, which lapped high up the beaches and wharves but did no damage. A series of high bores travelled up the Uawa River for a distance of two miles, and overflowed the banks at low points without serious effects. Two horsemen who were on the hillside above Kaihu beach, just north of Tolaga Bay, saw a huge swell roll up from the south and sweep the beach to a depth of probably 6ft. They were at a safe distance from the sea, but had they been caught in the beach they would have had great difficulty in avoiding damage. From Anaura Bay, Mr. W. Lockwood reported that the wave had made no impression beyond leaving the beaches water-logged to a level well above normal high tide. Further north the height and speed of the surges appear to have diminished rapidly. The ’quake was not felt in Wairoa and no sign of the tidal wave experienced further north was seen in that vicinity.