EARTH TREMORS.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXIV, Issue 955, 27 December 1933, Page 5

EARTH TREMORS.

Experienced in Australian Township. EXPLANATION OF CAUSE. (Special to the ** Star.”) SYDNEY, December 22 j It has long been a habit with Aus- | tralians to regard New Zealand as a J country which enjoys a very precari- ■ ous existence, variegated by the con- ■ stant occurrence of earthquakes: and j the “ Bulletin’s ” comic title for Maoriland—“ the Shivery Isles ” —is often inI terpreted quite literally here. New Zealanders who feel that all , this is a reflection upon the reputation, or the stability, of their country, should be interested to know that parts of Australia are extremely liable to “ tectonic ” shocks. Unenviable Record. > The township of Gunning, which lies | about 170 miles to the south-west of . j Sydney, on the railway line to Mel- j ) j bourne, has an unenviable record in > j this respect, and last week it had an j i ; experience which, though bv no means | ! unusual in that locality, was quite suf- j ' | fici.ently disquieting. | According to the “ Sydney Morning j Herald”: “Following numerous shocks : . ; that had been experienced during the j i past fortnight a violent earth tremor j h ! occurred this morning. The disturb- ! J ance lasted about three minutes, during j . | which time six'distinct shocks were ; t j felt.” > i These shocks, we are told, were “ as j ! severe as the disturbance on January , ! 12, when the people in the district , j were thoroughly alarmed by violent j i ’quakes.” Plaster was dislodged in ( large pieces, kitchen utensils and i plates fell to the floor, part of a wall i collapsed on to a bed, on top of a sleeping man, who providentially escaped injury. i As the shocks were felt, over a radius of twenty miles around Gunning, they were distinctly alarming: but the local i correspondent hastens to add that “ Gunning residents have become ac- : customed to these tremors.” Apparf entlv they have had plenty of oppor- : t.unity in the past. Father O’Leary, of the Riverview . Observatory, to whom everybody

seems to turn for an explanation of ! either astronomical or geological j phenomena, has explained that GunI ning lies between the Cullerin and j Mundoona ranges, which are off-shoots ; from the Dividing Range, and that the j ; “ shakes ” which it frequently experi- ; i ences are caused by “ light shiftings of ! \ the mountain masses ” as the earth ! ! settles down. 1 It is some consolation to be told that j j “ these readjustments are very slight,” | j and as Australia is geologically older i ! than New Zealand it is not so likely | to be affected from time to time by ! i these “ tectonic ” oscillations. But it i is well to remember that in many parts j j of Australia “ shakes ” of this kind are i by no means infrequent, and that Australians who are inclined to talk derisively about the “ Shivery Isles ” might be invited to spend a few weeks at Gunning in an active season for the readjustment of their views.