WHAT’S A ’QUAKE?

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 2, 24 March 1927, Page 1

WHAT’S A ’QUAKE?

TALK BY PROFESSOR DOORWAYS TOR SAFETY "If people in New Zealand are not immune from the dishonest contractor then they will have to suffer, because bad|y-constructed buildings may crash when earthquakes come,” said Professor Bailey Willis, of Stafford University. California, in the course of his lecture on earthquakes given in the lecture hall at the University last evening. Professor Willis, who is president of the American Seismological Society, is visiting New Zealand on behalf of the Carnegie Institute of Washington. What was an earthquake? It was not, as commonly believed, a volcanic disturbance under the crust of the •arth, but the spring or snap of elastic masses of rock.. In the California earthquake a mass of rock 180 miles long was strained and suddenly released. New Zealand in Earthquake Belt. The earthquake centre was distributed round the Pacific Ocean in a continuous belt which ran from Cape Horn to New Zealand. The active regions in New Zealand were centred round the Canterbury Plains and Christchurch, and on the East Coast of the North Island. The Southern Alps were being pushed westward. The best way to combat earthquakes was to t understand them. —Effect on Buildings

Anyone building a home or any other building should aim at constructing it of wood. Wood was light and strong, and earthquake resisting. The place would have to be braced and built like a ship. In the big constructions reinforced concrete had to be used. This was ail right provided the concrete was used so as to represent units. This was often disregarded. A building poorly constructed meant extra insurance, loss of life and disaster when earthquakes occurred. An instrument was needed which recorded a nearby earthquake. If these proper instruments were installed in New Zealand, people would know whether they were safe or not. During an earthquake the best plan tor safety was to step into a doorway. School children should be trained to await teachers’ orders in case of an earthquake. ,_ .. . In concluding the Professor said that he had dealt with a practical problem and one that should have their earnest consideration.