SEVERE EARTHQUAKE

Chronicle (Levin), 17 June 1947, Page 5

SEVERE EARTHQUAKE

, -Pr.ess Association !

: -S7 ^ » East Coast j

By Telegmph

. GTSBOR'NE, j-ime §71 Earth tremors o-f increasing. i'ntensity .oy.er a wide area of 4Me| East Coast jate yesterday after-. 'A0011 eulminated.in a heavy shockj •at II ;p.m., which flelled chihiheys .of ho.mes in 'tokomaru Ra-y, Mangaroa; Mangatuna and Toldga} Bay and caused considerable? tininor damage to the • contents of: •houSes;-and.bnsinesses. . ; The --quake, :wLic.h -was apparently ..Qep.tr e:d inland, was -felt as |ar nofth as Tauranga and -south: to. Napier and Gisborne. It rocked for 20 seconds. - Tokomaru Bay received its worst shake for 20 . yeaprs. Crocker-y; crashed from shelves and a >nuin-. her of hrick chimneys tc^ppled,| some in the first big 'qqake 'at IIp.m. and pthers shortly after 5 .a.m. today. 'Windows were brokexr and tanks hurst in .some places. J At Mangaroa station a stone; weighing ,a ton was ' moved tWb; inches -from dts foundation. Ai huge slip was bxought -down on ahillside half a rnile from thehomestead. . ! Recorded at Observatory j The shock was recorded at the, Dominion -Observatory, at Kelburn, at 10.57 Iast night, said the aet-; rng Dominion seismologist,- Mr. R.i C. Hayes, today. Repor-ts received; ,oy the observatory from Gisborne, said that there were tremors there: at that time Iast night. Tolagai Bay reports showed that the dis-; turbance there was fairly severn, i and further north. The centre seemed to be not; -far from the coast, -but. ati present it was not possible; co say" for"7 certain -.where it; was. Mr. Hayes added that. no; remors other than the 10,57 .one had yet been recorded, but tne records v/ere -not dry enough for a! close examination.