The Earthquakes.

Feilding Star, Volume XVII, Issue 47, 23 August 1895, Page 2

The Earthquakes.

(Per Press Association). Wellington, August 22. A telegram from Taupo states that earthquakes still continue, but they are slight. The telegraphed accounts of the effects j of last Saturday's earthquakes in the Taupo district conveyed a very good idea as to the severity of the shock, but the personal narrative of one who was sta3'ing at the Geyser Hotel, Wairakei, ou the evening of the occurrence gives additional interesting details. From Mr Swale, an English tourist, we learn that the first shock— a very severe one — was felt at the Geyser Hotel at 6.30 on Saturday evening. It was pitch dark at the time, and the inmates, anticipating a repetition of tho Tarawera eruption of 1886, made tracks for the open air. The violence of the shock was so great that one man was thrown to the ground, and everything moveable in the house was displaced. In the diningroom the kerosene lamp was upset, and there was imminent danger of a serious conflagration, when another tourist, Mr Leaf, of London, pluckily rushed into the room, took up the lamp, and at great risk to himself carried it outside, thus saving the building from destruction. The company gathered together outside, and a huge fire was lit, around which the party camped for the night. Sleep was out of the question, and the time was spent in carefully noting the number of distinct shocks which took place. Up to 7 o'clock on Sunday morning the record showed that no less than thirtyeight shakes were felt, although the ground really was in one continual tremor. A visit of inspection was paid to the deserted hotel early in the morning, and steps were taken to repair the damage of the previous night. The crockery was in a wrecked condition and chaos reigned supreme. The chimneys badly cracked, and the ceiling of the dining room parted, whilst a heavy manple had been overturned. Many of the residents assert that the shocks experienced on Saturday night were of a much severer nature than those which accompanied the Tarawera eruption.