THE EARTHQUAKE.

New Zealand Colonist and Port Nicholson Advertiser, Volume I, Issue 38, 9 December 1842, Page 3

THE EARTHQUAKE.

(From the Colonial Observer.) The following inerrioranda relative to the phenomena attendant on the occurrence of the iate earthquake at Port Macquarie, are communicated from the Meteorological station there: — “ On Friday morning (Oct. 28), about halfpast five, the wind then being W. b. S. squally, with a dark gloomy skv, tire thermometer 60 deg., and barometer 30.400, a smart shock of earthquake was felt in this township, appearing to range from N.W. to S.E. It was of about three minutes duration, and the oscillations of the earth being quick . and frequent, inasmuch as the various articles of furniture, &c., in houses, within the space it seemed to cover, were in continual motion. “ The weather during the month had been remarkably dry, with very hazy atmosphere and strong winds ; hut 0.05 of an inch of rain having fallen. The barometer continued to rise from the 13th (on which day it stood at 30.120); up to the 24th, when it was at half-past eight a.m., 30.970, after which it gradually fell till the 27th, when it remained stationery at 30.100. The wind variable both as to intensity, and the points it may have blown from during each day. “ The previous morning (27th) broke very calm, with cirri generally prevalent, which, about noon, gradually spread into one sheet of nimbus, the wind flying all round the compass. About three p.m., the barometer suddenly fell 100 deg., distant thunder being heard in the south, which thunder, in about an hour, became very violent directly over this place, with heavy rain till five p.m. ; a liail-storm supervened for about ten minutes, stones falling of great size, some of which measured upwards of 2f of an inch in circumference, although the thermometer then stood at 66 deg.; after which it settled down into a steady rain, which continued at intervals during the night. “ In addition to the above, 1 have to add, that the progress of the shock, if I may so speak, seemed to commence from the valley of the Hastings; inasmuch as from accounts received to-day, the motion appears to have been more severely felt at Banambin and Yarrows,' than at Port Macquarie. Yet, even here, the shock was great, that in several houses the inmates who slept upstairs, were thrown from their beds ; those sleeping on the ground-floor did not feel the shock so much.”

Earthquake. —Letters from Athens, of the 28th ult., state that several shocks of an earthquake were felt in the various parts of the Peloponnesus; on the 18th, at Sparta, the shock lasted from 25 to 30 seconds each. The inhabitants ran terrified out of their houses. On the same day, and in the course of the night, four or five other slighter shocks were experienced. Beyond the Eurotas an immense rock fell from Mount Menelas, near the village of Drouchas. An old tower situate in the town of Magoules was thrown to the ground. At Mistra the soil trembled with more violence than at Sparta, and a portion of the. Hellenic College and several houses were destroyed. The water of the springs and wells became turbid ; and an enormous rock having detached itself from the summit of Mount Mistra, rolled with terrific noise into the town. At Calamet, the first shock, felt at half-past nine o’clock, lasted between 40 and 60 seconds, and there were 10 others from that hour until midnight, at intervals of three-quarters of an hour.' Most of the houses were damaged, and several in the neighbourhood actually gave way. Upwards of 50 dwellings were thrown down at Aeropolis, and 15 towers crumbled at (Etylus. Manv persons were buried under the ruins of their houses in the province of Maina. At Androusa several churches fell in. On the 25th ult., at about four o’clock, a.m., another shock whs felt at Patras, which lasted a minute and a half. The Courtier Grec announces that a red rain had fallen at Tripolitza and elsewhere, and that the Minister of the Interior had collected information respecting that phenomenon, which would be submitted to the examination of the medical board.