PLIGHT OF SETTLERS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 74, Issue 110, 12 May 1931, Page 8

PLIGHT OF SETTLERS

j STORM FOLLOWS EARTHQUAKE ! HOUSES NOT WATERPROOF I FREQUENT TREMORS OCCURRING GISBORNE, May 10. A cold southerly storm has added to the discomloits of the settle :s of Tini--1010, 42 miles south of Gisborne. The district is still exponentjng sharp uaithquako shocks m omparativel} •>hort intervals. A peculiar feature of tlie disturbance is that practically <'v<ry person in the distr.ct is suffering from sick;?*s with each heavy Residents have had little sleep since 2.30 a.lu. on Thursday, and are suffering from nervous tension. They have not changed from the clothes they then hastily donned. One man describing the situation in a telephone conversation said: “We are all looking complete wrecks.” The hotel is still sheltering a large number of people, but others have returned to their homes, which are leaking badly from the strain of the severe earth movements. The main need at the moment appears to be cooking apparatus. People are afraid to light fires for fear that the embers might be thrown about during the progress of a tremor, while chimneys in their present battered condition are by no means safe. A few portable kerosene stoves are in the district. Gaping holes in the roofs through which chimneys have fallen are letting rain into some of the houses, while many others are so badly strained as to make them completely ineffective in keeping out the rain and cold wind. Last night only about five appreci-X able earthquakes were felt, but three were quite substantial. Ono at about 11.15 brought people out of their beds. A slip came down on the road between Tiniroto and Greys at Hangaroa last night, completely blocking traffic. YOUNG WOMAN’S LUCKY ESCAPE BED WRECKED BY BRICKS But for the fact that she dashed out into the open when the shock commenced, a young woman sleeping on the varandah of her house in a Gisborne suburb would have been severely injur cd, if not killed, in last week’s earthquake. One chimney of the house was dislodged, and fell on to the roof of the verandah, which collapsed. Roof and chimney crashed down on to the bed below, which had just been vacat- - cd, and the weight of the bricks completely wrecked tho bed. WORK FOR PAPERHANGERS OVERFLOWING OF CISTERNS Damage caused by last week’s earthquake at Gisborne was not confined to cracks in brickwork and the toppling of chimneys, paperhangers being provided with plenty of prospective work by the overflowing of open cisterns in roofs. In several instances these cisterns threw parts of their contents over the ceilings of papered rooms, with consequences that can well be imagined. Tanks were rocked on their foundations, and in some instances sprang leaks, while in other eases the stability of their foundations was affected. NEW CHIMNEYS UNSTABLE Details published in the ‘Poverty Bay Herald” show that Thursday s shake provided some peculiar incidents. It was apparently more heavily felt in Gisborne than anywhere else. The 'characteristics of the early morning 'quake correspond with those of a class 7 shock in the Rossi-Forel scale of seismological activity. The scale indicates a strong shock as one that results in the overthrow of movable objects, fall of plaster, ringing of bells, and general alarm, without serious damage to buildings. Many tradesmen found their premises in a sad state of disorder after the earthquake, and the tost of the damage to plate-glass windows alone will run into a considerable figure. There is a comparative absence of structural damage to buildings, and it is unlikely that any of tho premises affected by the shake will have to be given extensive attention, but the losses of fragile stocks in many of the shops will bo heavy. A largo number of business houses found more general damage than was occasioned by tho main shock of 3rd February. Stocks crashed from the shelves, and piles of material strewn about the floors of the shops gave evidence of the strong character of the tremor. Some of tho damage to plate-glass show windows was due, no doubt, to lhe overturning of show fittings ana figures, but some curious freaks were produced by the earthquake. In the vase of Messrs. Petties, Ltd., seven windows were cracked badly, but two large sheets of plate-glass were merely edged along in their frames, the latter bursting at the corners and allowing the glass to move laterally for a space of about an inch. In neither case was the plate, glass damaged. Similar effects were noted elsewhere to a lesser extent. A curious feature of the damage to plate-glass was that only certain portions of the town were affected. Only one firm in the lower end of the town lost windows, and there was a section which escaped altogether. Then commenced another series of smashes on the south-western side of Gladstone road, affecting four businesses. The next blc/ck was clear of damage on that side of the road, but across Gladstone road there was another section of damaged premises. There were numerous cases reported of chimneys having fallen throughout the suburbs, and full tanks being wrenched about on their pedastals in such a way as to occasion leakages. A superficial survey of tho damage in the suburbs was made by an experienced builder, the result being an estimate that at least 200 chimneys arc down in the residential areas of Gisborne. These include a number which had been damaged in the earlier earthquake’s, and had been reconstructed, ‘he owners of property on which repairs had been executed being no more immune from loss than those whose brickwork was not, affected previously.