Heavy Earth Tremor Alarms Adelaide

Chronicle (Levin), 7 August 1948, Page 5

Heavy Earth Tremor Alarms Adelaide

Received Friday, 8.50 p.m. ALELAIDE, August 6. A hdavy earth tremor, whieh the Government Astronomer said was. the worst experienced in Adeiaide since • 1902,. shook the city and suburbs this afternoon. City buildings Swayed ' I an'd larige cracks appeared m the - walls of onet buildingr and some homes. The tremor- lasted for two _ minutes. The- tremor caused widespread alarm. Girls screamed as.city build ings swayed and crowds rushed intothe corridors. Lights swayed, doors slammed, windows rattled and- the walls of homes nearest the scene of the 'quake were craeked. Adeiaide' s tal-Iest building of 12 storeys swayed perceptibl-y for 15 seeonds. More sl^ocks may follow today's earthquake, said the South AustralianGovernment Astronomer (Mr. G. F. Dodwell). He added that today "s 'cjuake occurred in the ocean bed 200 miles southeast of Adeiaide where a iali in rock structure had caused a subsidence so severe that the vibrations were felt hundreds of miles away. ' >• ■ LATER. Many towns in Western Victoria towards the South Australian border felt sharp earth tremors but no dam- ■ 'age is reported. Reports are still coming in tonight from towns suchas Portland, Gaste-ton and Horshanr. All the reports are similar — doors slamming, windows rattling and crockery shaken. Consklerable alarm was felt in these areas -where few residents ever experienced anything similar before. The cehtre 51 the distuibance, Mount Gambier in South Australia just across the- Vietorian border, is an old * - volcanic area.