TIDAL WAVE

Hokitika Guardian, 24 February 1931, Page 6

TIDAL WAVE

IN COOK ISLANDS. ASTONISHING PHENOMENON (]}>/ Telegraph —Per Press Association) NEW PLYMOUTH, February 22. A graphic description ol a series of tidal waves, apparently the result of some submarine disturbance, that visited RaraLongn on the atternoon ol Wednesday, Jannury 28, nearly a week before the great earthquake that wrecked Napier and Hastings, is contained in a letter received at Now Plymouth from Miss Freda Hirst, who is now on the Cook Islands Trading Coy staff. Miss Mirsi says that the extraordinary phenomenon created considerable alarm.

“] was lying on the back verandah early m the afternoon,” says Miss Hirst, ‘‘when I heard natives on the road yelling, and everyone rushed out to (lie front, so I went round, too; aiwl the sea, which bad been like a mill pond, (it wa a glorious day), bad risen just outside the lagoon to a height ol about to lent. It was advancing in wave alter wave .this way and that.'in whirls. It seems that we narrowly escaped a bad tidal wave, as instead of the whole disturbance coming at once it came in a series of waves, which broke' over the reel with a terrific thundering, and rushed in up the harbour.

Facli successive iVnve submerged the wharf entirely, and went, on until it, filled all the big wharf sheds, Then it, receded with tremendous speed, and a swirl of water and spray dashed over the grass and the road in front of our wharf. I have seen some wonderful breakers hen l in stormy weather, rising to heights of 20 feet or so but never anything like this. The breakers dashed over tl|e reef with foam and spray 80 feet high, and one after another without a pause. It was a marvellous sight; but we were all quite alarmed .There was not a breath of wind. The sky ws cloudless, and the sea far out (when we occasionally caught glimpses of it), was blue, calm and still. It was the most extraordinary tiling 1 have ever seen.” “It kept on like litis until early this morning, and we hardly slept all night—with a deafening “boom! boom!” like crashing thunder and the rushing sound ol water advancing and receding with tremendous speed. We are all very anxious to hear whether there has been a tidal wave anywhere else, or a submarine volcano eruption. I was afraid that perhaps you had been having some very had earthquake, Ivut the 'phenomenon was all from the north; and the south side of the island remained absolutely normal.