More Shocks Experienced

Hokitika Guardian, 19 September 1932, Page 5

More Shocks Experienced

A GISBORNE REPORT. A f HUGE LANDSLIDE. (Per Prett Aiiociatioiy— Copyright.) • bn■. - 1 GISBORNE, September 17. Gisborne, experienced a peaceful night. ‘' There were ' several slight tremors, buV not sufficient to disturb anyone’s rest;'

The Mayor is 1 preparing an appeal to Parliament for national assistance in repairing*, the damage and is seeking estimates, of the damage done to private property. He is going to Wairoa to-morrow' to meeti the people there, the Gisborne Borough Council having expressed a desire; to give every possible assistance t<> the neighbouring borough. ‘. V : ; The deputy-chairman, of: - tJtiemploymebt Beard lias authorised the un- : interrupted '.Use. of: Bujbaidited . labour for reetbration work at special rates. The Borough Council meets on Monday to frama a definite programme of reitoratio& work, \'£, . Architeots find that the buildings strengthened since the last earthquake stood up well, most of the damage being confined to premises which had not been given attention..

Tinaroto settlers are completelyl cut off from the outside world, their exit to the north being closed by a series of slips, with ono tremendous landslide in the gorge., known as the Bluff, while the road to . Wairoa is blocked by slips in the vicinity of Te Reinga. Some days must elapse before a temporary ..yehicular road can be put through from Gisborne* J

600,000 TONS OF ROCK. The slip at the Bluff is the biggest the district engineer (Mr O. G. Thornton) has .ever , seen in , New Zealand * and when he visited Hangaroa yester- . day he estimated it to contain 600,000 tons of papa rock, the slip having extended right over, the , main arm of Hangaroa to a narrow island. Enormous boulders, weighing upwards of 40 / tons, are strewn everywhere in the y gorge and above the Jrotfdway are many more huge boulden*dsicately balanced, which render -the-whole of that sotion of road extremelly danger- 1 ©us. Apart • from • th% faiidslide there are many Other; sinallel* slips- iii tile gorge, bOmpietfefyj Ari’jtertlailiji,' block- /> . ing thd road,Mr ThorntttU consider* that it will take thr«< or four d*yr 'befora road-' . tneni can tut track* Mr packhortc*.' There li little likelihood ct the toadelide at the Bluff ever being cleared, It hoi completely obliterated the road So distance of‘five chains and'the t of clearing would be between £,OOO and £15,000. Probably a deviation route will have to be formed.

ANOTHER SHOCK. PEOPLE RUSH TO STREETS. ; V GISBORNE - , September 17. The Post Office tower is showing extensive crack* T and \it is probable it will have’to be demolished. The authorities are waiting the decision of ' the Government architect. Otherwise the Post Office "buildings stood the shock Temarkably well. A sharp chock just before 11 o’clock this morning brought people out in the streets. No further damage is report" ed; : "

GISBORNE, September 18

Several more earth tremors were ■ exexperienced to-day. The most noticeable one was, at 6 a.m. It awakened many of the residents.

Another pronounced shock was experienced before eleven o’clock this morning. . 1 * The church services to-day were

V rather more largely attended than/ usual, and references were, made in practically all of the churches te the quake, the expression of thanks giving being emphasised that no lives had been lost, Owing ’to the’structural damage no service was held to-day in Holy Trinity Church, the usual services being held in the parish hall, a wooden building in the grounds of the church. The Salvation Army Citadel also, was not used, the services being held a smaller hall at 'the back of the Citadel. , To-day was a perfect spring day, and scores of householders took adof the fine weather to remove cracked chimneys, sounds of •’ \ hammering on brick and plaster being heard in all directions, particularly in the suburbs.

,■ In some suburban,,hqmes, two and three chimnpys removed, thus avoiding• , further? danger from that . source. -. 7 : >, After an examination by the Hawke’s Bay Education,';vyßoard building architect this morning a special, meeting of the Gisborne Main School committee was held, and it was decided V that the upper storey'of the main ■ school, a large structure; built in brick, should be' evacuated at once, ; and the children be removed to the wooden Technical School, and the 1 infants’ woodetii school in the same grounds,

EARTHQUAKE’S HEAVY DAMAGE AUTHORITIES APPEAL FOR ASSISTANCE

At the Chief Post Office a ggng of men were busy to-day removing .the parapet over the back entrance in Customhouse Street. 'instances' are continually,.cqming to light of the- severity fc quake on Friday A hpjuie in Perry Street, withip, seven minu'tes’ walk of the centre of the town, suffered considerably. The whole house was badly twisted and was moved back, several inches fom its original position. A double chimney at 1 the rear of the building crashed through the roof of the bathroom and the wash-house, knocking the bath and tubs through the floor, and partly burying them in the earth. At the back of the house, the colapsed and a large corrugated tatik hfis been B&cUrely wedged between the wall of the house and theback pbrtioii of the porch. Oil the front pdrtidn of the house a double chimney oolapsed,: the bricks crashing through the roofs into a room. The husband had a narrow escape as a heavy wardrobe In the bedroom toppled over and struck him a glancing blow on the shoulder and completely blocked off his means of escape; from the room. The whole building has subsided in the corner. The next door house is badly damaged and has been moved backward from five to six inches.

ANOTHER VIOLENT SHOCK. , EXPERIENCED AT WAIROA. WAIROA, September 18. Tremors still continue at Wairoa. The severest since yesterday occurred at one o’clock this . afternoon. - It was a very heavy upward jolt, causing the buildings to rattle and the bells to ring, but there has been no I further damage yet reported. Two fairly serious shocks occurred this morning about seven and eleven o’clock. Quite a long roll developed; .gradually diminishing, the intervals being filled in with minor tremors The ground has been giving the feeling that it is on the move ’the whole time. • The cracks on the Marine Parade have been considerably widened today. Probably this was due tb the quakes) throughout. Saturday night: A portion of the main thoroughfare is now dangerous to traffic: Reliable information from the Wniatai.yalley report* that "the shake ’there was of immense intensity, True* tteally every homestead eollapwd off its foundation, w was structurally damaged. It is feared that there has been a heavy loss of stock, due to slips, the animals having had no chanc e to. escape before the hillsides fell on them. Miles of fencing have been ruined. It is anticipated it will take months to replace this. The farmers set out to ride over the property, but they found it impossible. Both the flats and hills proved te be nothing but cacks and subsidences. Thousands of tons of earth has been displaced. , Opouiti reports that severe damage was there Sustained. The occupants of one residence had a miraculous escape from death, when heavy beams crashed right across the floor and beds just a second before the place was evacuated It is noticeable here that where new additions have been made to buildings these have suffered in almost every case by being wrenched away and bodily collapsing. A peculiar happening was, that at a private .garage. The back wall was completely torn away, as if cut by a saw, but the three remaining walls remain so intact ad to give the impression that nothing had happened. To-day has been bitterly cold in Wairoa. There has been a southerly wind with intermittent showers, making the position unenviable for 'those without chimneys and with broken buildings, as fires cannot be lighted. Due to the lack of a water supply an outbreak of fire in the present strong wind would have disastrous results for the whole* community. Every precaution is being taken to prevent any outbreak. Arrangements have been made for a trailer pump to be sent from Auckland for the use of the local fire brigade, if required. The telephone service is being restored rapidly. Despite the huge task, it is hoped to have all of the subscribes re-connected 1 f/to-rn or. row. In order to restore contact north - tef Wai“ rod',"'a| cable was to-day laid under trie river'. | It is now Only a matter of hours before Gisborne will be re-con-nected. . The scheme of the Public Works officials for a temporary water supply is well under way. This will require six-inch pipes being laid across the river bed. Pipes for the work, which are coming from Tawa Flat, comment" cd to arrive to-dav, and the officials and employees are sparing no effort to complete the work as quickly as possible. All of the debris from the falling buildings in the Marine parade has now beeiv ((eared away, and business was conducted as usual last night, i despite the face that practically every , plate-glass window was smashed and thn<; tho shops were in great confusion.

•AN APPEAL FOR RELIEF. LARGE AMOUNT NECESSARY. WAIROA, September 18. The (Wairoa Borough Council and Hospital Board held a lengthy meeting. The Mayor, Mr Harker, stated the work of restoration was proceeding satisfactorily. There was no possible hop e of the borough paying the Public Works Department for restor’-ng the water. This morning, Mr Harker telephoned to tMr Forbes, placing the position before kim, and asking that a national appeal for financial,assistance be made. Mr Forbes replied that the position would be considdted when a detailed report of the lbSfeW’ .wag. submitted. ' Mr Harker said at the meeting today that h e had informed the Prime Minister that if he (Mr Forbes) does not make a national appeal by to-mor-row (Sunday) night, then he, the local Mayor, will do so through the newspapers of th e country. The request of •Mr a report is considered a frivolous one, as it will take weeks in order to estimate tlh e damage sustained. This will be impossible until every building, private dwelling, farm, road, and bridge is inspected by experts. Proceeding, Mr Hatlier stated that offers of help were arriving from all quarters. Tli e food supply Was plentiful, but What Was wanted, was pounds shillings arid pence from outside. There werb buildings that did riot fippefir to be Issriorisiy damaged, but inside of them, everything was strained badly. They would coat infinitely more to repair that the damage don fl in the 1931.. quake. The main street had .subsided a number of inches towards the river.

Continuing, tihe Mayor stated that the ipunt over the river on the first day had transported two thousand pedestrians. It was essential for the town either to ‘secure a suspension bridge or a temporary bridge of the same nature. The lack of the bridge was now undoubtedly the town’s greatest setback. It would take at least twelve months to Teplace the bridge. They had been absolutely dissatisfied with the work ot the ■ rehabilitation committee appointed in 1931, and they hoped that a better system of controlling the funds and grants would be introduced. Mr Harker’s remarks were endorsed by the whol 6 meeting, and especially (the reference to the need of a national appeal. 'Mr Brewster, chairman of the Hospital ‘Board, estimates the damage isustaijned at the hospital will rea c h more than two thousand pounds. He admitted there w T as no hope of securing on* penny in rates this year du e to the immensity of the calamity and the town and district were in a sad financial plight,. due to the latest visitation. Gifts of crockery and glassware of any description would be v greatly appreciated. Various social organisa-tio were already assisting in this direction; -• i... Mr Coleman, M.P., arid Mr BftMard, M.P., were both present at the meeting, They expressed their sympathy with the town and district) and they al«9 promised to give swy wisteße© and te help m any manner they possibly could, The members assured the meeting that they were confident that the whole of the Labour Party and also a large number of .the other Members of the House would support the making of th e appeal for financial assistance. * The fact that at the present time the Government holds thousands °f pounds in mortgages over property that was restored after t)h 6 1931 earthquake, and that now these securities are valueless, adds further to the district’s difficulties.

When considered apart from .the construction of the bridge, an amount in excess of fifty thousand pounds—probably closer to one hundred thousand is required to recondition th e borough and county. '

A prominent business man interviewed, expressed doubt a.s to the safety of buildings in the main thoroughfare, as it was most obvious that there was a distinct line of fault through a large portion of it. Workmen have been busily engaged throughout the day in carrying out restoration work. The town is thronged .with iseers from Gisborne, and Napier, many of them expressing the opinion that the reports sent out jhave in no way been exaggerated. The town is in an appalling state.

NEWS RECEIVED ,IN AUSTRALIA. DOES MUCH TO ALLAY FEARSSYDNEY, September 19. Mr Schmitt, the New Zealand Government Commissioner advises that the official cablegrams he is receiving frem the Dominion with regard to the earthquake, are proving extremely useful in helping fo allay the fears among those conorned here regarding the effects at Gisborne and other areas, and also enabling him to furnish reassuring answers to those anxious to obtain official knowledge of the damage. These messages are being handed to the newspapers for publishing side by side those received from local correspondents. Considerable relief is felt that no .loss of life has resulted.