EARTHQUAKE RISK.

Taranaki Daily News, 5 June 1935, Page 4

EARTHQUAKE RISK.

A warning that buildings are still being erected or reconstructed in various parts of New Zealand which contain the weaknesses so appallingly apparent in the Napier earthquake has been issued by Mr. C. R. Ford, a member of a special technical committee appointed in Auckland to go into the matter of earthquake risk. It is a failing of human nature that people are, on the whole, extremely shortsighted and forgetful of such matters. A dangerous railway crossing, for instance, even though it is known to be dangerous, often requires several serious accidents or fatalities before action is taken to remedy the fault. A certain practice or set of circumstances is revealed, and the public demands an inquiry by a Royal Commission dr some other investigating authority. As often as not, after voluminous evidence has been taken and a report submitted, the report is pigeon-holed and in a very short time completely forgotten. So it is with earthquakes. The Napier earthquake for a time roused the public conscience, but with the passage of time people have lulled themselves into a false sense of security, which is periodically disturbed by reports of disasters such as the recent Quetta calamity. Yet the basic fact remains that New Zealand is undeniably subject to earthquakes, and even though a long period of comparative immunity may occur, sooner or later another earthquake will take place that may cause further loss of life and property. New Zealand cannot for economic reasons be made earthquake-proof in a day, but it is possible to build so that the earthquake risk is reduced to a minimum. Even if this means extra expense it is inviting trouble to take the easier road. The people of to-day owe it to thair children and their children’s children to erect buildings as. earthquake-proof as possible. The sooner the whole nation realises this the better.