"JUST THE WEATHER FOR EARTHQUAKES.”

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 183, 4 August 1931, Page 5

"JUST THE WEATHER FOR EARTHQUAKES.”

SCIENTIST SCOFFS AT THEORY THAT IS POPULAR j “ Manx- people have the habit of sav- , ing, on hot, muggy days, * This is just j the weather for an earthquake.* Some go further and ally earthquakes to an eclipse of the sun or the moon," re- | marked Dr P. Marshall, of the Depart- | ment of Scientific Research, in the j course of an address at Wellington on | “ Earthquakes and Their Physical Effects." ! Dr Marshall assured his audience that earthquakes were catalogued j extremely carefully and from the j data available it was apparent that | there was no astronomical or meteorological relationship in earthquake freS quency. i As far as the Napier earthquake | was concerned. Dr Marshall said that j he was convinced that a great deal of f the blame that had been laid at the [ doors of faulty construction and faulty j material in buildings was really attributable to the fact that there was an astounding variation in earthquake intensity in very small distances. In the Napier cemetery, for instance, some of the headstones had been flung long distances by the earthquake, while others, almost adjoining, had barely shifted. “ As far as the teachings of the past can tell us, it is not likely that we will have another big earthquake in New Zealand, seeing that we have had two in recent times," added Dr Marshall.