EAKTHQUAKE SHOCKS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21153, 9 April 1932, Page 10

EAKTHQUAKE SHOCKS.

TAKAKA TOWNSHIP SHAKEN. DISTURBANCES DURING NIGHT. SEVERAL SEVERE TREMORS. [BY TELEGRAPH. —OWN CORRESPONDENT.] NELSON, Friday. After a long period of comparative inactivity, fairly heavy earthquake shocks were felt in Takaka, 69 miles from Nelson, last night, and tremors continued at intervals until the early hours of the morning. The first shock came at 10.39 p.m. with loud detonations, followed by the rattling of windows and the oscillation of electric lights and fittings. Two minutes later there was another heavy shock and this was followed by several minor tremors. At 11.7 another severe shaking was felt. This lasted for about 15 seconds and was followed by less severe tremors. Another distinct shock was recorded at 11.26 p.m., and the heaviest came with a loud rumbling a few minutes after one o'clock this morning. This dislodged ornaments in some houses and awakened people, causing considerablealarm among guests at hotels in the township. The officer in charge of the seismological station at Takaka considers that the heaviest earthquake' would register five or six on the Rossiforel scale. The five major shocks are distinctly recorded on the strong motion seismograph, while indications of the numerous smaller tremors can be discerned on the marking apparatus of the instrument with the aid of a magnifying glass. Some idea of the intensity of the major shocks may be obtained from the fact that the instrument at Takaka, the only one of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere, is designed for the recording of only heavy earth movements, and the five shakes mentioned are distinctly registered.