EARTHQUAKE GUSHERS.

Grey River Argus, 20 July 1922, Page 3

EARTHQUAKE GUSHERS.

FOUNTAIN-LIKE PHENOMENA. WONDERFUL SIGHT NEAR TAUPO. AUCKLAND, July 15. Two residents of Taupo who were out on a pig-hunt : ng trip in the Whakaipo Bay locality a /. w days : go, had an interesting experience. Just after reaching the spot where the earthquake fault, previously reported, crosses the track, about four miles from Taupo, they felt the sharp shake which was felt recently at Oruanui, Wairakei, Mokai, and Tokaanu, at 10.27 a.m. Coming out on the flat country a few minutes later they were met by a most unusual sight. There suddenly spouted up out of the ground several columns of discoloured water, some of which were - ; s high as a shot gun with which the astonished observers measured them. Hardly had they done so when another group was seen to break forth a short distance away. In a few* minutes dozens of groups of these fountains were observed, and as the pig-hunters resumed their ride the whole flat at the other side of the hills west from T; upo presented a wonderful sight. The water ejected was quite cold and not chemical to the taste, as was evidenced by the readiness with which the pig-dogs drank it, lapping from the top of the smaller spouts, as though quite used to drinking-fountains. There were hundreds more of these fountains spurting up in the shallow water near the ber ch, and from the hills west of the bay the observers had a splendid bird’seye view of the curious sight. The litle Ma para stream, which rises in a swamp in the flat country back from the beach was running much higher than usual, and was all muddy with tin* sudden rush of water. On their return journey the two hunters found that tlie “gushers” had ceased playing. A day or two afterwards the “Herald'’ correspondent again visited Whakaipo, nuking the trip by boat and going all along the cliffs on the west of the bay. lie had a splendid close-up ; view of the great slips of rocks that have come down, finding that both their numbers and also their size were greater than he had thought after seeing | the cliffs from Whakaipo beach some j days previously. In places hundreds of tons of rock have swept down, leaving not a vestige of the bush formerly clothing the lower portions of the cliffs. Ono small pebbly beach, near the Mai sons’ Rock, which was a favourite picnic spot with visitors, had been almost completely buried beneath huge piles of rock which had come down from a height of 300 ft. Rowing along the Whakaipo beach a few yards from the water’s edge, lie • observed on the lake bottom, plainly ■ ' visible through the crystal-clear water, I the freshly made crater-like holes form- : ed by the “fountains’’ mentioned ' above. There were hundreds of these, ! a few from 3ft to Oft in diameter, and i 3ft in depth, but the majority a few inches only.