THE EARTHQUAKE SHOCK.

Greymouth Evening Star, Volume XXXI, 18 November 1901, Page 4

THE EARTHQUAKE SHOCK.

Much Damage Done.

(PER PRESS ASSOCIATION.)

Cheisxchubch, Nov 17. Beyond the injury to the Cathedral spire the damage to the building is not considerable. Several house chimneys fell, and the tank under the roof of the D.I C. overflowed and damaged goods two storeys below. It is feared that Wardell’s new building at the corner of High and Cashel streets hud gone out of plumb, but experts state this is not the case—that the only damage is a crack in a small ci)ijnney,

At the Normal School, which is built on peaty ground, several cracks are noticeable on the outside of the walls. One crack in the northern gable, though not serious, seems to show that but for the buttresses the whole wall would have fallen. A loading builder estimates that it will take £BOO to repair the Cathedral spire, the same amount practically as on a previous occasion. The Telegraph Department received the following message from the Postmaster at Cheviot: —“ Re earthquake ; My office is completely wrecked, and everything dismantled. Every jar imhc office is broken. One death is reported of a baby and two accidents.’’ It is reported that Cheviot is in a state of collapse and business is suspended. The Postmaster at Waiau reports that two chimneys in the Post Office are down and the others are damaged and dangerous, and will have, to be rebuilt at once. An interview with a gentleman who had come through to Rangiora from Cheviot to-day showed that the earthquake was most disastrous. There is hardly a house habitable in the township, and the damage is variously estimated at from £IO,OOO to £20,000. Every chimney in the settlement is down, not a single one standing. The first shock was so severe that people were thrown to the ground in all directions, and a child killed. It was only two months old, and belonged to Mr Charles Johnson, The family lived in a sod house with an iron roof, and on the first shock the whole structure collapsed, the child being recovered dead from the ruins. The body of Dr Williamson, who had died a few days previously, was thrown from the coffin, and the house was much damaged. The township looks as though it had been through a bombardment. Penberthy’s large boarding house was completely wrecked. Scott’s hotel was so damaged that it will have to be rebuilt. McTaggert’s butchery shop, which was built of brick, is simply a heap of ruins. Hubbard, Hall, and Co’s store has been removed completely from the foundatians.

Many of the inhabitants refuse to re turn to their dwellings, and are camping in the open. Bluff and Beach roads are entirely blocked, and the sohoolhouse at Port Robinson is wrecked. The telegraph office suffered very severely, all the instruments being smashed and everything overturned, To illustrate the force of the shock, heavy iron plates in the office were overturned. The shock was most severely felt in Mackenzie and Spottiswood. At Domett the bouses were shaken and chimneys thrown down. When the last information came from the Cheviot at 3 p m shocks were still continuing. At Waiau and Tipapa the shaking was felt severely. At Waikari a lot of damage was done. The heaviest losers are McDowell, storekeeper; Kermode, hotelkeeper; McNaught, saddler; White and Coy, storekeepers; and Hornar, hotelkeeper. The vicarage of the Church of England is almost in ruins. There is hardly a chimney left standing in the place. Several women fainted.

Mr C. Coleridge Farr, in charge of the Magnetic Observatorj, interviewed regarding the earthquake, regretted that he had not yet had time to place the seismograph in position, but the magnetographs which he set in operation during the day (after the big shock) show that there were frequent tremors during the afternoon and night. At least twelve distinct shocks were recorded between noon and midnight, and between 730 pm, and 10 30 pm the ground was evidently in a constant state of viabration. About 820 there was a sharp shock, which was also felt at Cheviot. At 6 o’clock this morning Mr Skey, Farr’s assistant, says that there was another sharp shock, and at this time the magnetograph records showed six distinct shocks in seven minutes. The heavy shock on Saturday morning threw one of the three instruments out of gear