WELLINGTON AND EARTHQUAKES.

Globe, Volume XXII, Issue 2128, 18 December 1880, Page 3

WELLINGTON AND EARTHQUAKES.

A correspondent to a contemporary writes ; as follows:—“ Jn looking over some old ' papers I came across an account of the < earthquake iu Wellington in October, IS4S, as follows : On October 13th, at 1 midnight, Wellington was -visited by a •avera shook or succession of earthquakes, almost the whole of the ohimneys and many brick and clay buildings were thrown down. The front of the V. esleyan Ohapel and aohoolhonse were also shaken down. This was on October 13th, bat the shocks continued on the 14tb, 15th, 16tb, 17th, 18th, and 19th. During the whole of this time the earth was in perceptible motion. Buildings that had withstood the first day’s ■hooks were now completely destroyed. An eye-witness descrides the buildings as toppling over in all directions. The shocks of the 17th threw down the ■ Commiisariat buildings, and buried Barrack-Sergeant James Lovell and his two-children in the Tains. They were immediately dug ont, but one of the children was dead, and the other lived bnt six hoars. Lovell himself was dreadfully bruised, and died on the 19tfa. The scenes in Wellington were piteous to behold. Whole families were camped out in tents, exposed to the full force of the galea of wind and rain, which at the time were prevalent. Delicate women and little children through fright and exposure had the seeds of fatal disorders sown in their systems.’ Another writer says, ‘The whole town-Is desolate, the only buildings which defied the shakes, were some strongly-constructed - wooden buildings. If the town had been built of brick and stone, and had been more - thickly inhabited, the loos of life would have been immense. So terrified were the people that they fled to the ships in the harbor for - safety. The natives left their pahs on the beach and fled to the beach, and fled to the hills, anticipating a tidal wave. The bell- , man of the town was pressed into service to announce religious services in the Scotch Church, the only ohnrch or chapel standing, - the Wesleyan, Independent, and Primitive - chapels being a mass of ruins. The Wes- : leyan loss alone was upwards of £looo.' - Governor Eyre Issued a Gazette as follows ; —‘ New Zealand Government Gazette, Province of Now Munster, published at Weii lington, Thursday, October 19th, 1848. Proclamation. Whereas, it has pleased Al- . mighty God to visit this settlement with a great and grievous calamity, and it is fitting that a public acknowledgment be made of , (he Divine power on whom all the operations of nature and the security of his creatures depend, and that prayers and supplications be offered np to Almighty God to avert the recurrence of any similar visitation. Now, • therefore, I, Edward John Eyre,'Lieutenant■Governor of the Province of New Munster, by and with tho advice of my Executive <-Council, do hereby proclaim and declare that to-morrow, the 20th day of October, 1848, , shall be held aa a day of pnbiio fasting, .;prayer, and humiliation. Given under my hand and seal, at Government House. Wel-lington,-this 19th day of October, .1848.—E. -J. Eybe. ’ This was accordingly carried out, ..a united religious meeting being held the whole of the day in the Scotch Obnroh. Now, as -such an earthquake took place -thirty-two years ago, what guarantee -have we that it will not repeat itself at any time. History proves that 'Vesuvius was dormant for. upwards of 500 years, and then became active and destroyed Pompeii and Herculaneum. In the interest of the colony its archives should be moved to a more fit and safer place than Wellington, where every mow and then earthquakes are common. . -Rome may say that Auckland may be sub- \ jject -to earthquakes yet, but experience; proves that regions of extinct volcanoes -are not so subject to earthquakes as -other regions altogether not volcanic ; mid, -although active volcanic regions are some--times affected by earthquakes, yet the most violent recorded earthquakes appear to have convulsed regions lying many degrees from tho nearest volcanic centre. Many regions which do not now present any appearance of having been theatres of volcanic notion, are very subject to frequent earthquakes. This again is in favor of Auckland, and in general the most severe shocks are felt upon the sea coast. It is true that sines Wellington has begun to build in brick and cement there has been no severe shock, bat that is no criterion that there will be no more. If tho earthquakes of October, 1848, did so much mischief, and imperilled the lives of the Inhabitants, what will be the effect now, •when, inflated by a possible fictitious confi 4euoo, Wellington is building with brick ? I