TIME OF TERROR IN GREYMOUTH.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18788, 18 June 1929, Page 4

TIME OF TERROR IN GREYMOUTH.

GAPING CRACKS OPEN AND CHIMNEYS FALL.

Per Press Association. GREYMOUTH, June 17. Greymouth was this morning subjected to a terrifying experience by the worst earthquake in its history, at 10.19 o’clock, preceded by a lesser shock about 7.25 a.m.. lasting about twenty seconds. The main disturbance continued with the utmost violence for fully a minute, and it was succeeded at very short intervals by smaller vibrations for the best part of an hour, while further tremors have continued during the afternoon. LIKE SHIPS IN STORMY SEA. Houses rocked like ships in a stormy sea, chimneys crashed in hundreds all over the town, as well as the ceilings of numerous brick buildings and in one or two instances large pieces or cornice and external masonry fell to the ground. In the hotels extensive losses resulted from the projection of bottles of spirits and other liquors from the shelves to the floors, and the chemists fared equally badly. In places clouds of dust mingled with the smoke from fires which were agitated by the jolting and swinging, but fortunately there was no call for the services of the fire brigade. The creaking and rattling as buildings strained under the upheaval, and the rushing noise which came from a great slide of metal at the Cobden quarry, made the phenomenon more alarming than, any thing of the kind ever known here. Women in houses and girls in the schools fainted, and there was a general stampede into the streets. In dozens of cases chimneys came through roofs and several very narrow escapes are reported. Dozens more chimneys were left in a most dangerous state. MANY FISSURES. The footpaths on the seaward side of the town now exhibit fissures in all directions, there being lengthy, though narrow, ones along Richmond Quay, one extending for over fifty yards. But the most remarkable result was to be seen in Blaketown, adjacent to the beach, where a deep crack opened in a garden through which there welled up creamy silt and salt water, spreading a deposit over an area of about twenty or thirty square yards. Every footpath in Blaketown had its asphalt cracked, whilst the main traffic bridge leading thither was rendered impassable through the road falling at either end, the drop on the seaward side being one of about two feet. There, also, three deep fissures, extending each a distance of nearly a hundred feet, and -widening in places to more than, a yard, opened up in the road and narrow ones likewise on the landward side. The bridge itself was evidently pushed westward fully a foot, causing the caps on the piles at that end to split and turn right over. Fissures also opened in the road at Omoto, near the racecourse, also near Victoria Park and at Nelson Creek. LINES AND BRIDGES. The railway lines heaved up for threequarters of a mile on the western side of the Blackball bridge, in which the piles of the central span have sunk several inches. The lines were heaved up and down also north of Ngahere and the bridges between there and Reefton were rendered unsafe for traffic, as were also three bridges between Stillwater and Moana. The result was almost a general stoppage of train services this afternoon, the only trains operating being on short runs to the State mine district and to Ngahere, passengers to and from Otira being motored be tween Ngahere and Kaimata. Subsidences are reported at six places on the Hokitika line, while there are many serious ones on the line between Reefton and Inangahua Landing. It is not yet known what trains can be run to-morrow, but some will begin in the morning. Observers report the sea to have been in unusual commotion at the time of the main shock, which may have had a submarine origin. The exact time at which the big shock began was recorded at various post offices, and a comparison indicated the direction from which it started. It was felt at Greymouth at 10.19 a.m., just two minutes later than it was reported at Reefton, and a minute sooner than the Hokitika officials noticed it. That might indicate that the centre of the subsidence is in a northerly direction. It has been said that it was felt at Blaketown slightly before it reached Greymouth, but that cannot be proved. There were minor tremors early this morning, the first one about 12.50 a.m,, and for at least an hour after there were others quite sipall but easily discernable. Then at 7.25 there a shock felt by a great many people. The shake after midnight was similar in intensity to that at 7.25 a.m., but of shorter duration, and both were followed by slight tremors until the big ’quake came with startling suddenness at 10.19 a.m. Shocks continue this evening, too well defined occurring a few minutes before seven o’clock.

DAMAGE IN THE TOWN. The places in Greymouth to suffer most have been Kim Williams’s mercery emporium at the junction of Mawhera Quay and Tainui Street, where the masonry fell in big blocks, also the Albion Hotel, a large brick structure, the Catholic Presbytery, the Convent Chapel and the Hospital, where the dispensary was badly wrecked. The patients behaved wonderfully, though several had narrow escapes from falling plaster and ornaments. A huge chimney stack in the hospital grounds was badly cracked at tne top, a smaller one ,at the gasworks suffering similarly. The Greymouth Town Hall apparently suffered considerable damage across the central part, while cracks are visible alongside the tower. The parapet was fractured and lumps of masonry were hurled into the street. Some ornamental masonry fell from the top of the tower. The machinery at both newspaper offices was displaced. The Marist Brothers’ brick school was damaged in several rooms and the corridor, while the labatory was partly wrecked, the boys in a class there making a hurried exit by the fire escapes. The damage in the town must run into many thousands. GREAT FALL OF ROCK. At Paroa a fountain made its appearance from a fissure, but the most spectacular incident was the falling of a hundred thousand tons of rock at Cobden quarry, where fifteen men working at the face had barely time to get clear. Pieces of rock weighing many tons rolled across the road. The fall is far greater than ever secured by explosives. One workman, named Kelly, was struck on the leg by a stone. Cobden lost a great many chimneys, while Nelson Creek houses fared badly. MINERS’ TERRIFYING EXPERIENCE. The coal miners generally had an awful experience. Fearing they were entombed all rushed for the pitheads, emerging white and shaken. The roof of Armstrong’s Co-operative Mine collapsed, but the men were all clear Two miners were injured in the Briandale Colliery through striking prop 9. Three miners were buried in the Blackball mine, but were quickly rescued. One miner was injured slightly on the head at Rewanui State Colliery. Brunner district and mines escaped lightly. Most chimnej's collapsed in Blackball, where the main road is blocked by the collapse of a hillside. Water and gas mains in Greymouth were broken in several places, but the flow was quickly checked by the staffs.

Up till 6 p.m. the West Coast was cut off telegraphically from the rest of the country.