H.—34.

Earthquakes in 1932. The following is a list of all important New Zealand earthquakes during the year 1932. The summary includes (1) earthquakes of high intensity, (2) earthquakes felt over a wide area.

The East Coast Earthquake of 16th September, 1932. The most important earthquake during the year 1932 was that which occurred in the GisborneWairoa region on the 16th September at 1.25 a.m. N.Z.M.T. The shock was most severely felt at Gisborne and Wairoa and in the region lying between those towns. The intensity at Wairoa was slightly greater than R.-F. i), and at Gisborne between R.-F. 8 and 9. Considerable damage was done to buildings in both towns. Fortunately there were no deaths as a result of this earthquake, although five persons received injury, one at Gisborne and four at Wairoa. The earthquake was felt with decreasing intensity over the whole North Island, with the exception of the Auckland Peninsula. The most northern locality from which a report was received was Turua, a short distance from the mouth of the Thames River. The earthquake was not felt in Auckland. The most distant station at which the earthquake was felt was Blenheim, 270 miles south-west of the epicentre. The epicentre, as determined from the records of the New Zealand seismological stations, was found to be situated a short distance off the coast, to eastward of Mahia Peninsula. The geographical position adopted was latitude, 39°-2 south; longitude, 178°-2 east. The resulting time at origin, as determined from the records of this Observatory was 1932, September, 16 d. 1 h. 24 m. 57 s., N.Z.M.T. The main earthquake was followed by a series of after-shocks, which rapidly subsided in frequency and intensity. The approximate epicentres of the main shock and principal after-shocks are included in the map, together with other epicentres determined during the year 1932. Publications. The Observatory has continued to publish a preliminary earthquake report each month, giving sufficient data for the determination of the epicentres of the principle earthquakes. A preliminary seismological report from the Magnetic Observatory, Christchurch, has also been published, together with the report from this Observatory. Besides the preliminary reports, the following complete seismological reports were published during the year 1932 : — E.-27 —Seismological Reports for February, 1931. E. 28 Seismological Report for March, 1931. E.-29 —Seismological Reports for April, May, June, 1931. E.-30—Seismological Reports for July, August, September, 1931. Also the following Bulletins: — Bulletin No. 82—Report of the Dominion Astronomer and Seismologist for the Year ended 31st December, 1930. Bulletin No. 83 —Review : Barlow's Tables of Squares, Cubes, Square Roots, Cube Roots, and .Reciprocals of all Integer Numbers up to 10,000. Bulletin No. 84 —Seismology in New Zealand. Bulletin No. 85 —Report of the Dominion Astronomer and Seismologist for the Year ended 31st December, 1931.

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Position of Epicentre. Maximum „. .. T ... r T . ., fetation or Locality N.Z.M.T. of Shock. Intensity as reporting South Latitude. East Longitude. (R.-F. Scale.) -Maximum. 1932. d. h. m. ° Jan. 3 15 13 .. .. 40-5 175-3 5 Wanganui. Mar. 3 9 55 .. .. 42-3 172 6 Murchison. 3 10 30 .. .. 41-9 172 6 .Murchison. 5 13 12 .. .. 36 179 6-7 Coromandel. April 7 23 6 .. .. ' 41! 172-4 5-6 Takaka. 8 3 9 .. .. 39-9 175-7 5 Marton. 17 2114 .. .. 41-8 171-9 5 Karamea, Reefton. May 5 19 54 .. .. 39-6 177-6 8 Taradale. 5 23 1 .. .. 39-6 177-6 5 Taradale. June 8 8 53 .. .. 38-2 177-8 5 Napier to Opotiki. 16 1 24 .. .. 40-4 174-5 5 Wanganui, Martin. 18 2 8 .. .. 39-6 176-6 7 Taradale. July 20 16 22 .. .. 40-0 174-0 8 Patea. Aug. 3 1 17 .. .. 40-7 173-5 6 Kahurangi Point. 14 8 28 .. 52 160 5 Stewart Island. Sept. 11 5 18 .. .. 38-3 178-4 6 Waipiro Bay. 16 1 25 .: .. 39-2 178-2 9 Wairoa. 16 1 48 .. .. 39-7 178-4 5 Motu. 16 2 22 .. .. 39-4 178-0 6 Opotiki 29 7 44 .. .. 39-7 178-8 6 Gisborne, Wairoa. 30 22 49 .. .. 38-9 177-9 5 Wairoa. Oct. 31 9 29 .. .. 39-7 176-7 5 Wairoa. Dec. 11 2 23 .. .: 39-7 176-7 5 Uaipawa. 17 4 39 .. .. 39-5 177-5 5 Wairoa.