CLEARING DEBRIS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21744, 8 March 1934, Page 10

CLEARING DEBRIS

MRTHCIUARE AJTTERMATH

/BUSINESS AS USUAL " ; COURAGE AT PAHIATUA DAY OF BRISK TRADING ' / [BY TELEGRAPH —PRESS ASSOCIATION'] PAHIATUA, Wednesday Business men at Pahiatua who have been hard hit by the earthquake are facing the situation in a fine spirit. They have found ready assistance in the task of clearing up the debris, rearranging their stocks and opening their shops.

The Wairarapa Farmers' Co-opera-tive Association traded busily most of the day, customers using the end doors unc'.er a fallen verandah, where a sign stated "Business as Usual." Business was reported to be exceptionally heavy, as the. needs of the public are urgent. The post office has been flooded with business. So numerous were the toll calh that, with a restricted line service, they quickly accumulated. The waiting list of urgent calls is a formidable one. Many telephone lines are out of order mid the department is concentrating firsl) on connecting up as many as possible of the main outside toll Hues.

The postmaster received advice that throe officers from outside districts were being/sent hero to-day to clear up the faults, so that by to-morrow most subscribers should have their service in ordi?r. The telegraph department is almost busy. - The Mayor of Palmerston North telegraphed to the Mayor of: Pahiatua this morning asking what Palmerston North could do to assist. The Mayor replied asking that the town's immediate requirement of bricklayers to rebuild chimneys be made known.. Residents spent a more or less restful night last night, though many slept with a few articles of clothing close at hand. They have given a wonderful exhibition of courage. The school is being conducted as usual, although the chimney# are down or twisted. There has been no disruption of the town's gas service.

Many country residents and curious sightseers from farther afield have risked the town, and it is a very long time since the crowd has been so dense as was the case to-day.

DAMAGE AT MASTERTON GREATER THAN THOUGHT * - ■ ■ ■« SURVEY BY ENGINEER [IIT TELEGRAPH —PRESS ASSOCIATION] MASTERTON, "Wednesday A more detailed examination of buildings in Masterton has been made by i;he borough engineer, and it shows that- much more serious damage has beer; caused by the earthquake than was at first thought. In many cases walls /'and parapets are out of alignment and extensive reconstruction will be necessary. One or two buildings are so severely damaged that anything in the nature of a jolt would complete their destruction.

EXPORTS IN BRITAIN FIEARS OF EXAGGERATION REQUEST TO PRIME MINISTER [BY TELEGRAPH —PRESS ASSOCIATION] PALMERSTON NORTH, Wednesday Exaggerated reports of the damage by the earthquake have apparently reached the United Kingdom, as cablegrams have been received from England by local business men making anxious inquiries concerning the welfare of their families. The Mayor, Mr. A. E. Mansford, has communicated with the Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. G. W. Forbes., asking him to check such reports from going abroad.

GEOLOGIST'S OPINION ADJUSTMENT OF TENSION SEQUEL TO SHOCKS OF 1931 "It is fairly clear that this week's earthquake was a 'sympathetic adjustment:,' following the major shocks in Hawke's Bay three years ago," said Professor J. A. Bartrum, professor of geology at Auckland University College, in reply to an inquiry yesterday. Professor Bartrum said the GisborncWairoa earthquake of September, 1932, had been due to tension set up in the region >, immediately north of Hawke's Bay. It tvas not at all surprising that an adjustment had now taken place south of the area affe-'ted by the 1931 earthquake. He agreed with Dr. C. E. Adaiqs, of the Dominion Observatory, that the epicentre of Monday's shocks was probably in the neighbourhood of Pahiatua. The wide distribution of the damage suggested that the subterranean centre was fairly deep-seated. The whole region between East Cape and Cook Strait was traversed by major faults-lines, running parallel with the mountain chains, particularly along the eastern margins of piedmont plains, such as that of the Wairarapa. These lines of fracture had been active since the beginning of European settlement in New Zealand, and it was possible of them had been involved in this week's disturbance.

Further inferences could ' not be drawn until scientific observations had been carried out and the results made available. He understood that geologists had surveyed and recorded levels across fault-lines in Hawke's Bay since tie 1931 earthquake, though whether the work had been carried as far south as the Wairarapa he did not know. If such data were lacking it might be difficult to say what displacement, if any, had resulted. New Zealand's experience in the past five or six years clearly showed the need for systematic seismological surveys.. Professor Bartrum concluded. These were carried on in other countries ' liable to earthquakes, notably California, and made it possible to detect gradual displacements as they occurred and to determine where conditions of strain existed. In a statement made after the Gis,-borne-Wairoa earthquake, Dr. J. Henderson, director of the Geological Survey, said the disturbance showed that the great earth fold which stretched through the whole of the South Island, the eastern part of the North Island and some 1600 miles across the floor of the Pacific Ocean, was still growing. "The relieving of the stresses in the Bay region probably increased the pressure in tho adjacent area to the north," Dr. Henderson said. "Hence the present adjustments. Probably the principal movement has now taken place, but the equilibrium of the whole Bystem of earth-blocks has been disturbed, and after-shocks, produced by miner adjustments, 'will continue for months. The mapping of the epicentres of titicee may give some indication of the course of the faults on the sea-floor or on the land."