THE EARTHQUAKE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXV, Issue 9150, 4 September 1888, Page 5

THE EARTHQUAKE.

[BY TELEGRAPH.—PRESS ASSOCIATION.] Christ-church, Monday. There were two slight shocks to-day at 2 and 8.15 a.m. The cathedral chapter voted £5 to Anderson, the steeplekeeper, for bravery in ascending the tower and securing the cross immediately after the shock. The Hanmer plains springs on Saturday were greatly agitated, throwing up quantities of mud and gas. The shocks seemed to come from the west, and a continual noise like distant thunder was heard at short intervals on Saturday and Sunday. Some rents in the earth have occurred in several places in the Hanmer plains and Upper Waiau, and gas is bubbling up from a number of them. Huge rocks have rolled down the hillsides, and several landslips have taken place, one on the Waiau bridge cutting. Mr. Gunn, the Rabbit Inspector, walked across the Hanmer Plains from Rogerson to the Waiau bridge on Saturday, and says that the whole plain seemed to be sending up gas, and water was bubbling in many places. The last shock experienced at Culverden was at S. 15 this morning. Since then everything seems quiet. Mr. Gunn expresses the opinion that ii the shocks had been generally all as severe as at the Hanmer Plains, no stone or brick building could have stood the shocks. He was glad to clear away, and thinks there is great danger of an eruption, if one has not already taken place in the ranges towards the west. The Hanmer Plains are still in active motion.