QUAKE DAM BURSTS

Taranaki Daily News, 5 July 1929, Page 11

QUAKE DAM BURSTS

TOWNSHIPS UNDER WATER PEOPLE RUSH TO HIGH LAND NO FATALITIES REPORTED HEAVY DAMAGE PROBABLE By Telegraph.—Press Association. Westport, Last Night. The Mokihinui River, which had been dammed by slips since the earthquake, . broke away to-night, causing much damage at’ Seddonville and St. Helens. The population were removed to Gran- . Ity. At present it is impossible to estimate. the damage done by the flood, but the latest news states the water is falling rapidly. . The dam broke about 2 p.m.,. the river )elbw rising fast and inundating the jrhole of Seddonville township, the flood . the highest point reaching almost- to the State school at 5.30 p.m., and drivIng almost the whole of the population to the higher ground and but into the open,, where a fairly hard night would be experienced, as the people had. no time to secure foodstuffs and ‘ At 8 o’clock the flood waters were receding and good news came to hand that an aged couple, Mr. and Mrs. Geo. Coleman, were sate, they having refused to leave their premises and having clambered on to the roof. In numerous houses the water was up to 8 to 10 feet deep. At Topgood’s Qntel the tables, set for luncheon, were swirled round on the floor. At Seddonville the hall was caught by the flood and carried a distance of about five chains and thrown heavily against Winsett’s shop. ' Fortunately the flood occurred in daylight or a disaster, unprecedented in the history of New Zealand would probably have Deen recorded. The flood water same away; then hung for a. time; then came away in a wall, sweeping over almost the whole of the settlement. While there does not appear to be any loss of life, the loss of cattle is expected to be very heavy, the Mclndoe s and Corby’s presumably faring worst. A relief train went out to Seddonvipe to bring ‘the- people to Westport, but they refused to come, preferring to see how their homes have fared when dayJignt arrives. The Westport relief committee met and is eending out a big supply of food Jn the morning. Mr. G. C. Black, ALP., who has been through all tho earthquake areas, is at present at Seddonville, whither he went as soon as the first news of the disaster reached the town. At the inquest to-day on the miners killed during the earthquake, a verdict was returned that the men, Chamley and McAllister, met. their death by being suffocated by a fall of coal caused by the earthquake. ‘"■•''The position at Karamea Is now re- '< ported td.be gettiiig. back to norn ’®’h but great damage hadbeen done by the ’quake. Some'farms, at Cbrbyvale have ben completely niincd. -Ticivy earthquakes' still continue at ■' Westport. . i ! ‘- Thee acting-Secretary bf the Post ana Telegraph Department lias received the " following from the'supervisor of the Karamea radio: ‘'Since the earthquake only two cases of diphtheria have occurred in Karamea, both being in the Concentration camp of refugees. Under lilch conditions there was every likelihood of the complaint spreading. Captain Burrell, in response to the urgent request of a doctor, flew from Westport under dangerous flying conditions with sufficient scrum to cope with any further cases. Fortunately no further outbreak has occurred, and the presen cases are progressing favourably.-’ RELIEF FUNDS SWELLING. PREMIER HAS £23,356 IN HAND. By Telegraph.—Press Association. Wellington, July 4. The following amounts have been reecived by the Premier for the central relief fund, making the total ' Ils 7d: —Town Clerk, Wanganui, £022 Cs; Herald and Weekly News, Auckland, £5378 17s 2d; Poverty Bay Herald, Gis-. borne, £7B 17s, Taranaki Herald and Budget, New Plymouth £328 6s 9d; Town Clerk, Palmerston North, £3D 12s Ud; Rangiora, Borough Council, f 43 lbs 6d- Town Clerk, Shannon, £5B; officers of Treasury Department, Wellington, '£l2‘ Mrs. Macarthy Reed, Wellington, '£100; New Zealand R.S.A., Wellington, £100: Mayor of Ashburton, £1950 J.4s lid; - Ashburton Mail and Guardian, Ashburton, £5OO. MINERS KILLED .DURING QUAKE. CORONER PRAISES SEARCH PARTY. By Telegraph—Press Association. • Westport, Last Night. Both deaths were due to the earthquake, said the coroner, Mr. E. R. Fox, at the inquest into the deaths of two miners, Robert McAllister and William Chamley. Both died from suffocation by being covered by falls of coal, McAllister in the Glasgow Co-operative Company’s mine and Chamley in the Cardiff Bridge mine. The coroner expressed sympathy with tho relatives of the men and admiration for the manner in which some had riskid their Jives in rescuing the bodies. FOR THE HELP OF SUFFERERS. DAII.Y NEWS’ LIST. £ s d. Already acknowledged 54 8 0 Mrs. F. A. Bremer I Q 0 11. Dunn, Cover Street ...... 2 0 u Taranaki Boxing Association .5 5 EFFECTS OF EARTHQUAKE. ELEVATIQN OF COASTLINE,. ’ EBv Ralph 11. Ward in Auckland Herald), jl'lie report from th<?Earthquake area

of an elevation of a portion of the coastline near Karamea to a height of 100 ft. is not surprising under the. circuniatanccs. The amount of vertical .displacement, mentioned,, however, is much greater than has ever been > ecorded as resulting in any one earthquake. The neatest uplift hitherto known was of 47ft 4m. on the north-west shore ofYakutat Bay, Alaska, in the earthquakes of 1899. Displacements of similar nature have been recorded in New Zealand in-the past, a notable example bein the case of the Welling; on earthquake of January 23, 1855, The effect of the movements was to uplift tho Rimutaka Mountains by about 9ft. and to tilt a tract of country, 90 miles long and 23 miles wide, slightly to the westward. Again, in 1923 there was a small cove called the Jail, about 80 miles north, of Dusky Sound, often visited by sealing vessels. It afforded good shelter, having lofty cliffs with deep water eo close in that the sailors could step ashore from their ships. Following a series of earthquakes in 1826 and 1827 the cove was found to have become, dry land. In the New Hebrides in 1878 the west side of the harbour at. Port Resolution rose 20ft. and 12ft. in the earthquakes, of January 10 and February i 4 respectively, Further uplifts, with their resulting shrieks, occurred in 1888, ai.d in' ten years the total vertical movt meiit noted by missionar l is was proLably not less than 80ft. In addition to movements of elevation horizontal displacements often occur, and also movements of depression. At the time of the Wellington earthquake of 1555 an area on the opposite side of Cook. Strait was depressed some sft., so that the tides flowed several miles further up the Wairau River than formerly, and ships taking in fresh water were obliged to go three miles further upstream than they had been wont. Movements of elevation such as the one now reported are interesting as showing the actual manner in which the forces work which build up the great mountain ranges. of the world and depress the great deeps of the ocean. . Fossil shells embedded in strata now several thousand feet above sea level give evidence of the continual changes taking place in the surface features of the earth, ‘changes of which the recent movements are a reminder.