The Wairarapa Age. MORNING DAILY. SATURDAY, MARCH 10, 1934. EARTHQUAKE DAMAGE

Wairarapa Age, 10 March 1934, Page 4

The Wairarapa Age. MORNING DAILY. SATURDAY, MARCH 10, 1934. EARTHQUAKE DAMAGE

As* inspection proceeds, it becomes evident that the damage done to buildings- in Masterton by the recent earthquake was of much more serious proportions than was at first supposed and< that the whole question of? providing reasonable safeguards, not only for occupants but for the public generally, demands methodical -consideration. Apart from financial problems, which in some instances may not easily be solved, there is some uncertainty as to the standards that are to be enforced !in repairing and restoring buildings ; damaged by earthquake. This uncertainty of course is heightened by longcontinued neglect to institute- building I regulations providing for reasonable f standards of safety In areas in which earthquakes are liable to occur. With regulations of this kind governing all new construction, a plain indication would have been afforded of the standards which should govern the repair and reconstruction of buildings damaged by earthquake. Meantime the only regulations and by-laws in force anywhere in the Dominion are those which have been framed without any particular regard to earthquake risk. Power was taken in the Finance Act of 1931 to make regulations controlling the design and construction of buildings in relation to their response to earthquake shocks, but anything yet done in the matter has been of a preliminary character. It is now reported that regulations providing a basis for model by-laws may be issued about four months hence.

While the establishment of safeguards against earthquake damage certainly should be dealt with comprehensively and from a national standpoint, it is obvious that (prompt local action is demanded in Masterton and in other towns in making good the damage done by the earthquake of Monday last. Local- authorities hero and elsewhere are faced by a very difficult problem, but evidently are bound to make the, most of what powers they possess in seeing that in whatever works are carried out the greatest possible regard is paid to the safety of the public. There should be no question of tolerating the ineffective patching of buildings that have been damaged badly and are now in an unsafe condition. Some buildings in Masterton plainly have been reduced to a condition in which they could no longer be expected to withstand the effects even of a very much slighter shock than that of last Monday. In all such cases reasonable standards of safety should be insisted upon, however costly the process of repair or replacement may be. Whether special measures of financial assistance in the way of loans may be necessary is a matter for consideration. While anything in the nature of scaremongering must be condemned unreservedly, ordinary common sense and prudence demand that reasonable standards of safety should be enforced ’strictly. One measure cf safety which may now be expected to command general approval and attention is the removal even from undamaged buildings of heavy overhanging features which serve no useful purpose and constitute an ever-present danger.