Sensational Occurrence.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLI, Issue 8190, 16 May 1906, Page 5

Sensational Occurrence.

Subsidence at Newcastle. Fashionable Residences iinined. (By Electric Telegraph—Copyright.) (Per Presa Association.) (Received Mav 16, at 9.10 a.m.) SYDNEY, This Day. A sensational subsidence occurred at Newcastle last night. Shepherd's Hill, which forms one of the most favoured residential sites, occupies a position adjacent to the underground workings of the Seapit coal mine. It is surmised that a creep has taken place in some portions of the workings, causing the surface to be rent and buckled. About three hundred acres suffered. Terracestreet is considerably affected by the subsidence. The houses there are mostly brick and every one of them is more or less damaged, while the water and gas mains are twisted and broken. Residents of the hill felt the earth trembling, the effect being most se\ere about half way up Terrace-street. Walls and houses were thrown out of plumb, cracks ranging up two inches wide. The lawns and back yards were lined with crevices. The residents quickly evacuated their homes, many seeking refuge with relatives or in hotels in the city. The masonry of the forts cracked in places and much injury is done to the gun mountings. Viewed from any point it seemed as if the whole hill had lost its foundations and subsided a couple of inches.

The rupture of the water mains drained a high pressure tank containing several thousand gallons on Apetu Hill. The water did not come to the surface, but found its way underground. A further subsidence is feared.