RECORD TAKEN OF SHAKE

Taranaki Daily News, 7 March 1934, Page 9

RECORD TAKEN OF SHAKE

THE FILM TO BE DEVELOPED SMALL DAMAGE AT NEW PLYMOUTH CHIMNEYS FALL; GOODS MOVED POST OFFICE CLOCK STOPPED. Inquiries made by a Daily News reporter yesterday revealed that slight damage was done at New Plymouth during the earthquake. Mostly it consisted of damage to stock in shop windows, goods falling with the force of the shake. The fact that the goods concerned were unbreakable saved shop window displays, although in one instance crockery was broken. One seismograph at New Plymouth was out of order at the time but another recorded the shock. The machine, however, takes a photograph of the motion, so that until the film has been developed in the Dominion Observatory at Wellington it will not be possible to gain an idea of the earthquake’s force. At Stratford on the Rossi-Forrel scale a force of six was registered, compared with five recorded at the time of the Napier earthquake. Chimneys in several instances at New Plymouth crashed down with the violence of the shake, the noise made by one in Frankley Road being heard at Westown. Concrete and stone walls were cracked by the shake, several being thrown out of alignment. A chimney in the post office building leaned precariously yesterday, though' not, as many who saw it believed., from the quake, but from circumstances some time before. The chimney had been condemned three days before the earthquake. Some confusion was caused yesterday morning when laggards to toil, glancing hastily at the minute hand of the town clock, believed themselves well on time when it pointed at a quarter to the hour. The clock had stopped at 11.48, the bell in the tower ringing with the shake. The mechanism, however, was undamaged, and the clock was started again shortly after nine o’clock. The exchange staff at New Plymouth had a busy period after the shake, being kept continually answering inquiries. Full control was regained 27 minutes after the shake.

The effect at Inglewood was severe, the shake lasting for a minute and a half, with further motion for a similar period. Tins of fruit crashed down in one window, marking it slightly, while stock in the shops was moved. The town clock stopped at 11.48 p.m. The effect of the shake on several people was sufficiently severe to .make them seek aid. Residents of a block of flats at New Plymouth poured into the street in night attire, some taking considerable coaxing before they would return to the building. Some who remained in bed are said to have been violently ill. The shake, as was the Hawke’s Bay one, was not without its lighter side. In one boardinghouse, where all the guests gathered to talk excitedly of the occasion, two men sat down and played draughts. Little damage was reported at Eltham. The town, however, was plunged in darkness for a few. minutes owing to the automatic switching off of power. A considerable quantity. of rennet in vats at the New Zealand Rennet Company’s premises was lost owing to the swaying of the vats. A large tank was damaged at the Eltham Dairy Company’s Mountain Road factory, and at the residence of Mr. J. L. Weir a cistern spilled water into one .of the rooms. No buildings or chimneys were damaged, this being attributed to the swaying motion of the shock. Articles were dislodged from shelves. > > . : MAN THROWN OUT OF BED EARTHQUAKE EXPERIENCES. CRACKS IN ROAD AT DOUGLAS. Monday night’s earthquake, coming at a time when some were abed and some were not, brought with it experiences of various kinds. The severity of the. movement, coupled with its lack of serious consequences -in Taranaki, provided a fruitful topic yesterday. Although the roll was very pronounced at Stratford, sufficiently so to throw some people about their houses, the most alarming intensity in the Taranaki district was reached around Strathmore and Douglas. At Douglas a few yards east of the railway crossing there are cracks across the tar seal of the main road, “wide enough,” in the words of a resident, “to put one’s hand in.” Douglas houses' were badly shaken, and at Strathmore not a single bottle of one housewife’s preserves remained upright. At Puniwhakau Mr. L. Bunn’s chimney moved perceptibly and would not survive another heavy, shock. At least one man at Ohura complained that the earthquake woke him up by throwing him out of bed. Two chimneys fell at Ngaere, although the shake was not so severe there. One Stratford grocer found neatly stacked tins leaning crazily, but not one had fallen. In another shop rolls of linoleum fell across the door and debarred entrance temporarily. Immediately after the shock had passed railway gangs were out patrolling the whole railway system. Members of gangs between Stratford and Okahukura, Inglewood and Hawera commenced a systematic testing and, each taking a section, were able to report before daybreak that all bridges and tunnels were intact, although in one or two cuttings near Tangarakau small papa slips and small boulders were found to be dislodged. No trace of damage could be found.

A woman passenger in a car which stopped at Strafford yesterday in. the course of a camping tour stated that the shake at Wanganui, where they had spent the night, had been terrifying. The Wanganui camping ground is equipped with old trams as camp houses, and the lady concerned was thrown from the upper bunk, Wanganui was left early yesterday morning, but the main feature of the streets passed through was the number of ruined chimneys.

The recording instruments of Mr. A. W. Burrell, Stratford, show that the oscillations lasted for 27 minutes from beginning to end, but whether it was all one shake or a series Mr. Burrell is unable to say. An 801 b. leaden bob used for recording swung a distance of 18 inches. The direction of the shake was from south-east to north-west, and the time of its commencement was 11.48 p.m.