EARTHQUAKES AND DESTRUCTIVE TIDAL WAVE AT LIFU, LOYALTY ISLANDS.
The following information has been supplied by one of the missionaries on Lifu:— "We had passed through the hurricane season with comparatively quiet weather, no storm of any consequence, when, on Sunday night last (March 28), at a quarter to 11 o'clock, we were all aroused and alarmed by a very sharp earthquake, such an one as we have never felt before. It lasted some time. We had several slighter ones during the night.. The next day we had occasional shocks, some rather sharp. The next night we had only a slight one, so we hoped they were over, when, on Tuesday evening (March 30), we were visited by a frightful earthquake which frightened us all. It did not last so long as the others, but it was much more severe. Part of the walls in the nursery (lath and plaster) came down with a crash. Many parts of the wall were cracked, and we got such a fright that we removed to a new native hut, where we feel more comfortable than in the shaky house. To-day (April 1) we had sad news from the Rev. Mr. Sleigh's side of the island. After the earthquake on Saturday night, a great tidal wave swept away three villages. We are not sure how many lives are lost. A trader from there tells us twenty-four, and others so much injured, bruised, &c., tha't they also may die. Our church, which was well built, at Wide Bay, by the French, is badly crushed at one end. We have counted thirty-two earthquakes since Sunday, the 28th March. Numbers of the drowned
were children. Their fathers were absent from home, at their plantations. The sudden in-rush of the sea cleared out stone walls. All fires were put out. It was pitch-dark ; mothers groped about in vain for their babes. There was great distress ; men and women were drowned, although the natives are such excellent swimmers. The poor people on this side of the island, where the Her. Mr. Sleigh resides, have lost everything ; even their new Bibles are either lost or damaged."—JSfcw Zealand Herald.
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Bibliographic details
Waka Maori, Volume 11, Issue 11, 8 June 1875, Page 126
Word Count
358EARTHQUAKES AND DESTRUCTIVE TIDAL WAVE AT LIFU, LOYALTY ISLANDS. Waka Maori, Volume 11, Issue 11, 8 June 1875, Page 126
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