SEVERE EARTHQUAKE IN AUSTRALIA.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1315, 13 May 1897, Page 21

SEVERE EARTHQUAKE IN AUSTRALIA.

Adelaide, May 11. A severe earthquake was experienced all over the colony yesterday afternoon. The shock lasted about 30 seconds. In the city people were wildly alarmed and rushed into the streets. The largest buildings rocked visibly. The shock was most severely felt in the south-eastern districts. Port Macdonnel reports that the town was considerably damaged. At Mount Gambier many buildings wer6 damaged and chimneys thrown down. Undulations of the earth were visible, and a great panic, took place among the people, many ladies fainting in the streets. At Beach Port the Post Office was completely wrecked. It was shaken and split to the foundations, and is unsafe to enter. At the Government Printing Office the ceiling cracked and plaster fell on the workmen, who became so alarmed that in their eagerness to escape they smashed the windows. At some of the public schools the children became scared and ran. A later telegram from Mount Gambier states that the Wesleyan parsonage was badly damaged, the roof having fallen in. Many buildings sustained large rents in the walls, and the spires and ornamentations of churches were broken. Sydney, May 11. A sharp shock of earthquake was felt at Gunning, Moana and Wentworth. Melbourne, May 11. A large number of towns in the western district report an exceedingly seveie earthquake yesterday afternoon. The vibration lasted 40 seconds, and caused buildings to rock and crack in an alarming manner and set bells ringing. The shock was only light in the city, but at the Port it was fairly described as being similar to an explosion of dynamite.