PACIFIC’S FLOOR SINKING

Taranaki Daily News, 7 February 1931, Page 4

PACIFIC’S FLOOR SINKING

PRESSURE ON ABUTMENTS POSSIBLE CAUSE OF EARTHQUAKE OPINION OF SYDNEY SCIENTIST. By Telegraph—Press Assn.—Copyright. Sydney, Feb. 5. Professor Sir Edgeworth David, 'the noted, scientist of Sydney, declared that the Pacific Ocean could be blamed for tlje New Zealand earthquake. The ocean, he eaid, was getting deeper and deeper and exerted such tremendous pressure on its abutments, New Zealand beino- oriC, that, reaching the straining point, they finally gave way. The slow subsidence of the floor of the Pacific was chiefly responsible for the upheav-als-in Japan, Manila and "New Zealand. After the 1929 ’quakes some of the pressure on the New Zealand coast was relieved by a portion of the side giving way. That took off the great pres-: sure for the time being, but it exposed th j east coast of the North Island to bigger pressure, and now that too had given way. gir.Edgeworth David illustrated this point by saying that when hundreds of miles of solid rock suddenly cracked owing to the ocean’s pressure it naturally produced a terrific shock or disturbance. Thus after this occurred at Murchison, in the Nelson district, shifting the coast a few yards westward, one.could expect tlie South Island to get relief from such upheavals for possibly a considerable time, and that pressure •would' next be exerted in the North Island, as had happened with such disastrous consequences. He desired to suggest to New Zealanders in future to adopt the ferroconcrete type of building which undoubtedly withstood ea-rth shocks much better than other types. He had noticed this when in San Francisco after the 1906 upheaval. “My heart goes out to those who had relatives and friends trapped in Tuesday’s shocking disaster arid I have only the kindliest feelings for New Zealanders whose overwhelming hospitality to me during my visits there I shall never forget,” he said.