Hastings Experience

Northern Advocate, 16 December 1938, Page 6

Hastings Experience

[Special to “Northern AdvOcate ,, 'i -TASTINGS, This Day.

Hasting experienced an alarming earthquake shock at about the same time as that felt in Palmerston North.

It was not accompanied by any jolting, the early movement being o sway that lasted about 30 seconds, and then died away, only to resume a few seconds later with a rolling movement that lasted approximately 15 seconds.

It is not thought that any damage was done to property, other than to a few shops in Napier and Hastings, and one in Waipawa, in which window displays toppled over. A plate-glass window in Heretaunga Street, Hastings, was smashed. Telegraphic communication north of Napier was interrupted for nearly an hour and a-half. It is believed that the wires became tangled by swaying. The greatest concern was felt in Hastings in respect of the Municipal Theatre, where over 1300 people were assembled for the annual Convent School concert.

The second half of the programme was about to commence when the earthquake occurred. Nearly a hundred people from the stalls hurriedly, but not in a panic, left the building. Several hundred children in the gallery rose to their feet, and a few screamed, but order was quickly restored. Reports from outside the district state that Gisborne and Taupo felt the shake, although not to any alarm-

ing extent

Two plate-glass windows were broken in Waipukurau. and people ran from buildings into the roadway when the first shock was felt at 9.10 p.m. last night.

Most Dannevirke shops suffered damage to stock. In one shop a large display of crystal ware collapsed, and was reduced to shattered fragments. In Dannevirke theatres women screamed, and buildings were quickly evacuated.

A large supply tank at the isolation ward of the Waipukurau hospital burst, causing a good deal of damage. The patients remained calm throughout