Earthquake of Enormous Force.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 17 June 1929, Page 5

Earthquake of Enormous Force.

WIDESPREAD DESTRUCTION IN SOUTH ISLAND. Power House Tumbles to Ground and Loss of Life is Feared. •/ ■ / ' Walls, Chimneys, Railway Lines and Roads Suffer. Heavy Tremors Fell as Far as Auckland. t > - -- A heaving of the earth’s crust which was experienced in Levin and practically throughout the North Island this morning was the outer influence of a much greater disturbance, the severest effects of which were evidently felt in the Nelson and Marlborough districts. Many buildings were badly damaged in that area, and as far away as Christchurch much havoc was wrought. The most startling result of the visitation was the collapse of a power-house at Takaka, where it is feared that there has been loss of life.

WESTPORT LAID WASTE.

POST OFFICE AND TIMES BUILDING WRECKED. No Casualties, but Town Isoiated. . A wire received t by the Press Association fro\m its agent in Westport this afternoon, just after the restoration of telegraphic communication with that town, states that Westport was wrecked by a violent earthquake this morning. Business is paralysed and the town has been without communications. The water and electric services are destroyed. The Post Office is v/recked, and the Times office demolished. There were no casualties. WESTPORT POST OFFICE DESTROYED. MUCH DAMAGE .THROUGHOUT THE TOWN. REPORT RECEIVED EY WIRELESS (By Telegraph —Press Association.) WELLINGTON, This Day. The Acting-Secretary of the General Post Office, Wellington, has received the following report in connection with the earthquake this norning from the Chief Postmaster, Westport;—

“A disastrous earthquake demolished the Post Office tower at 10.15 this morning, and other parts of the building collapsed. No one was . injured. The Public Works Engineer considers the' building damaged beyond repair. “Much damage was done to property in the town, practically no , chimney being left standing. “Endeavouring to secure temporary premises. All communication lost.’ ’ This message was received by wireless, all normal communication to that ■district being interrupted. There were also numerous interrupttioirs to the telegraph and telephone lines in the South Island, and at present it is not p)ssible to obtain reports from, some districts. MOST VIOLENT IN HISTORY OF MARLBOROUGH. TELEPHONE SERVICE OUT OF ORDER. <By Telegraph—Press Association.) BLENHEIM, This Day. This morning a slight earthquake at 7.30 was followed at 10.18 by the severest shock in the history ■of Marlborough. It was violent, . and lasted a full minute. At 10.30 another but smaller shake was ex- , perienced. The telephone service , Is out of order, and the damage is not yet ascertainable. BRICK WALL AND CHIMNEY STACKS DEMOLISHED. HORSES HOLT - WITH LORRY. ' ' ' BLENHEIM (Later). Numerous chimneys are down at Dr. Bennett’s residence, Maxwell Road.’ The high chimney fell through a Mar-seilles-tiled i oof on both sides of the ridge. The plate-glass windows' of Dear’s garage, Carr’s shop and M. McKenzie’a" shop were broken. A high brick wall adjoining the Friendly Societies’ dispensary, fell through the skylight of the dispensary, doing considerable damage to the sstock in the shop. The two oig chimney-stacks ef the Marlborough Brewery were demolished. At the height of the big shake, two horses attached to a lorry bolter] through' the centre of the town. A ■ by-star der jumped on the lorry and assisted the driver to pull them up. • Chemists’, grocers’ -and crockery ■shops, and hotels, suffered severe!} through goods being thrown off the As illustrating the severity of the •shake, a large pot full of molten typemetal in the Express office was so

severely shaken that the contents splashed over the floor. POWER HOUSE AT TAKAKA DESTROYED. CRACKS IN ROAD. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) NELSON, This Day. The Takaka Cement Works’ power-house crashed, and loss of life is feared. Chimneys were wrecked and the road cracked at ■ Takaka. DEVASTATION IN NELSON DISTRICT. —AILV7AY LINES BADLY TWISTED NELSON, This Day. • Nelson experienced the most alarming and severest earthquake in its history, at 10.30 this morning. Chimneys are down and many brick buildings are twisted and cracked. There are big fissures in tin* ground at Glenhope, and the railway line is twisted in all directions. FACTORY STAFF RUSH INTO STREETS. FORTY FEET OF CHIMNEY STACK FALLS. NELSON, This Day. Match excitement and alarm occurred at Griffin and Sons’ 'biscuit and confectionery works, consisting of largo brick buildings at the corner of Nile Street East and Alton Street. The buildings shook alarmingly, and, the .staff quickly made for the streets. There was no panic, but many of the employee,; were naturally veiy much upset. A large chimney-stack, over 60 feet high, snapped cff about 20 feet from the base, and bricks and mortar were .scattered in all directions. Luckily no one was hurt. UNFORGETTABLE SCENE IN NELSON.. STREETS. FALLING CHIMNEY NARROWLY MISSES PASSERS-BY. (Bv Telegraph —Press Association.) NELSON, 1.45 p.m. The centre of the city has been badly hit. The noise of f alling bricks, the crash cf plate-glass, and the cries of hysterical women and girls as they rushed into the streets from the swaying bbuildings made up an episode never to bo forgotten. The Masonic Hotel building; perhaps suffered most. Portions of brick partition walls crashed down, as well as chimneys, one of the latter scatter: ing over the roadway in Hardy Street and narrowly missing passers-by. Boon’s pharmacy, adjoining, was baldly damaged, tne plate-glajss windows being smashed to atoms, while a heavy concrete linial fell from off the top of the buildings and made a dent several inches deep in the asphalt. The stock of the shop was badly damaged. This can be said of other chemists’ shoos, and the stores where breakable goods were in stock. Cracks wore made in the brick business premises of B. Trathen (draper), Hallcn stein Bros.’s (clothiers), tho Bank of New Zealand, the National Bark, and the Union Bank, and the Bank of Australasia. There were also heavy falls of plaster, particularly at the last-named premises. Large numbers cf windows in business premises were either pushed well out of plumb or shattered. There are very few buiness premises which are not camaged in some way. A right-of-way was filled with bricks from the wail of Boon’s pharmacy. At Newman’s garage there was a heavy fall of plaster, and the flagpole crashed into Hardy Street.

CATHEDRAL CITY SUFFERS EXTENSIVE DAMAGE. BRICK BUILDINGS CRACKED. CHRISTCHURCH, This Day. Earthquake damn-e in the city includes two .smashed*windows in Beath and. Co.’s shop, cracks ir several brick buildings. the demolition of a brick wall behind the Wellington Hotel, the bursting of the water main in Manchester Street, and minor damage to gables in city churches. The earthquake, which occurred at 10.20, lasted a minute and a-half, cans-

ing general alarm in tnc city. Hundreds of people rushed into the streets. Several buildings have been damaged, but not badly. Arthur ’s Pass reports that I no damage' avss done, but the Avires are doAvn. NO DAMAGE AT TIMAEU. TImARU, This Day. A sharp shock of earthquake was felt here at 10.20 a.m. No damage is reported. Oamaru experienced a slight earthquake at 10.20 a.m., but no damage is reported. CAPITAL CITY BADLY SHAKEN. SOME BUILDINGS CRACKED. (By Telegraph —Press Association.) WELLINGTON, This Day. Shortly after 10 o’clock, a prolonged earthquake shcck was experienced in Wellington, the whole town being rocked. Women screamed and fainted, and everywhere people ran out of the buildings and houses. iSome buildings were cracked, and clocks were stopped, but so far as has yet been ascertained no serious damage occurred. LATER. Many telephones have been put out of commission by th? earthquake. The Post Office clock stopped and bells rang. The .'.ime was 10.19 a.m. A few minutes later a huge crowd Avas gathered in Feathorstcn Street gazing at the top of the National Bank buildings and continued to increase till it numbered thousands. The question appeared to be Avhether the top of the building has gone out of alignment or whether it was always as it now appears. A big crowd is also assembled outside a highbui Iding in Manners Street under the impression apparently that it also has gone out of alignment.

INSTRUMENTS THROWN OUT OF ORDER. WELLINGTON, This Day. The instruments at Ivclburn Observatory were thrown out of action by Lie earthquake and clocks were stopped. No record of the shock can be obtained at present. TELEGRAPH SERVICE WITH SOUTH INTERRUPTED. PARTIALLY RESTORED AT NOON WELLINGTON. This Day. The Chief Telegraph Office lost communication with all stations south of Blenheim and Nelson at 10.20 a.iu. At ]2 noon comiminie;. tion to Christchurch and Dunedin was partially restored. A FEELING OF SEA SICKNESS. HAMILTON, This Day. An earthquake with a long swinging motion was felt in Hamilton at 10.21 this morning and lasted over a minute. The rocking gave many people a fending of sickness. No damage is reported but much alarm was caused, many townspeople 'rushing into the streets. The direction is believed to be from north or north-east. Ngaruawahia and Raglan repo: t i similar experience. SLIGHT AT ROTORUA. ROTORUA, This Day. A slight earth tremor was felt at Rotorua at 10.20. There was considerable disturbance on the Utahina stream, two miles from town, but no damage is reported. Taupo reports a mild shock lasting eight minutes. PUKEKOHE’S PREMONITION. PUKL’KOHE, This Day. A sharp earthquake was felt here at 10.24 this morning. A number of people report a sickly feeling a few minutes beforehand.

OSCILLATION IN THE NORTH. AUCKLAND, This Day. A prolonged eaithquake in the city and suburbs, at 10.20 a.m., caused an oscillation, which is reported to have affected all large buildings. No damage was done. IN BAY OF PLENTY. TAUKANGA, This Day. An earthquake shock was felt at 10.26 a.m., in the nature of a prolonged gentle swaying. The direction oi: the movement was apparently from south-west tc north-east NO DAMAGE AT WOODVILLB. WOODYILLE, This Day. An earthquake of fully one minute’s duration occurred at Woodville at 10.20 this morning. The movement was of sustained violence and buildings and motor cars swayed to and fro. Residents rushed into the streets, but no actual damage is reported. LIKE A FLOATING ISLAND. CARTERTON, This Day. A very long rotatory earthquake was experienced at Cartel ton at 10.25 this morning. A slight tremor was first felt from south to north, changing to west to east, then imparting the effect of a floating island on a rough sea This worked up to a fairly strong movement, which gradually died away. No damage is reported, BUILDINGS ROCKED AT MASTERTON. MASTERTON, This Day. An earthquake having a swaying motion and lasting for two minutes, was experienced at Mastcrton at 10.18 this morning. No damag? is reported, bu. much alarm, was caused. Buildings rocked dangerously. I

SEVERE IN LOWER HAWKES’ BAY. I DA.XNEVIRKE, Tliis Day. Iho longest and most severe earth-' quake experiem eci i ;; Dannevirko for many years started about 10.21 thismorning and lasted about three minibus. Ihe oscillation was fairly serene, and tin looking motion was like being at sea. People vacated the places of business and watched them perceptibly rocking. Fortunately then* was no jerk, and no damage is reported. BIG SWAY AT HASTINGS. HASTINGS, This Day. At 10.20 this morning a steady swinging earthquake N.W. to S.E. was experienced lasting about two minutes? The Post Office and some other large docks stopped and water swished over the railway tanks. The top of the mast at the Post Office tower seemed lo swing a foot on either side .whilst everything pendulous swung for mane minutes. People ran into the street* from shops and offices, more through curiosity than fear as the movement was regular. No damage is reported. GUSTY WINDS AT HASTINGS. AEROPLANE DAMAGED AFTER LANDING. HASTINGS, This Day. During tin; earthquake this morning,, (he Hawke’s Bay Aero Glut ’s Mothplijne experienced gusty winds over Paki Paid. A landing was made at the aerodrome, and while on the ground (he machine was blown over and the propel lor broken, instruction is held up till re pail s have bom effected. LIKE A SHIP AT SEA. NAPIER, This Day. At 10.20 this morning .Napier experienced a prolonged rotating earthquake of several minutes dura!ion, the .effect being like the movement of a ship at sea. No damage m reported. Hanging electric. lumps swung for fnliy livimi mites after wanks. THE EARTH HEAVED. WAIPUKURAU, This Day. An oxn.qdidnalh severe and prolonged earlhqunc.e shock - was experienced at 10.10 this morning, !<u; no damago is reported. Many people left their homes and shops, rushing ,into th <t si nods where the earth appeared toheave convulsively. Street lamps,, trees, etc., swayed violently. No severejerk was felt. The direction of the shake appeared to be east to west.