MORE DEATHS REPORTED FROM 'QUAKE AREA

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 692, 18 June 1929, Page 1

MORE DEATHS REPORTED FROM 'QUAKE AREA

OVERWHELMED BY SLIPS Household Wiped Out MAN KILLED IN MINE Plight of Stricken Towns AT least six lives lost, and widespread damage, the extent of which it is at present impossible to estimate, is the toll of the earthquake which shook New Zealand yesterday. Reports indicate that a household of four has been wiped out at Murchison. Two other men are missing. A miner was killed in the Cardiff mine and three others injured. An engineer at the cement works at Tarakohe, in the Nelson district, was killed when a mass of limestone fell on the building in which he was working - . The tower of Nelson Boys’ College collapsed and the main building is so damaged "that it is unsafe for occupation Several boys were injured by falling masonry. Westport has suffered enormous losses. The Post Office is in a state of ruin and many buildings suffered considerable damage. Not a brick chimney remains standing. Greymouth also suffered severely: From many towns come reports of alarm and damage. Explosions like gunfire, coming from Cook Strait direction, were heard at Wellington, and the reverberations were - noticed at inland stations.

WESTPORT PARALYSED BRICK BUILDINGS IN RUINS SEVERAL NARROW ESCAPES Press Association WESTPORT, Monday. Nearly every brick building in Westport is dawn and there is not a chimney standing. The business of the town Is completely disorganised and it will be several days before «nythi*g like usual conditions can prevail. A fissure is reported to have opened up in one of the back streets of the town. As far as can be ascertained at present there is nobody seriously injured. A girl at the State school is reported to have had her leg cut off at the anile and a woman is said to have had both legs broken. No report is available from the mines, which are likely to have suffered severely. Several shakes were felt during the night. As soon as the shake started the employees of the post office rushed from the building and a few seconds later the clock tower crashed into the front street. At first it was thought that one man had been caught in the building, but he appeared a few minutes later.

Excellent work was done by the • eacliers of the State school in getting tne children out. The children, instead of rushing about wildly, obeyed orders and all escaped except the child already mentioned. In the corridor a h uge piece of concrete, weighing about * ton » fell and imprisoned a teacher, Miss Lorna Mumm, and a pupil. It took five men to lift it away, and bcth teacher and pupil came out uuseathed except for a few bruises. The shop of Mr. J. J. Lawson, next tfoor to the “Westport Times’* newspaper office, is a complete wreck. At orst the plate-glass windows broke, g* then. with a terrible crash, the onck and cement facade crashed on to the footpath. At the hospital a great deal of damage was done, but none of the patients was injured, although they are suffer£S? verely from shock. The Albion hotel, also a orick building, was severely damaged. The 90it floodu *“t towers on the wharf, although severely shakeu, are still standing, ine wharf itself is badly warped and tne railway lines twisted. At 11.30 am. another severe shake was experienced, which brought down more plaster and concrete. repair gangs out CITIZENS’ RELIEF WORKS BLASTING of ruins Press Association WELLINGTON, Today. The Acting Secretary-General of the rost Office states that the chief postas,er at Nelson reports that there 8 numerous line interruptions beeen Glenhope and Murchison, and oat the line gang left Nelson early tion morni *S to deal with the situaA»ticjpating numerous Press rebeing lodged at the Glenhope . Ce ’ arran Sements have been made .. Provide an extra staff and apparRi,. 3 . re to meet the expected presu£? of telegraph business, ren 6 Postsmaster at Westport , h® that communication has been 'StabUshcd with Granity, Millerton, Denniston. .William Chamley was killed in lh ® Cardiff mine at Seddonville, and three miners were injured at Denniston. c Westport the borough council j , Bnet t a public meeting, resulting mitr 13 orma tion of a builders’ comtar'i ’ W k° have undertaken volunL l : y to effect temporary repairs in 0 l mess Premises and dwellings iu .. 8r to ensure that they are waterCitizens are also grouping _etnselves for the purpose of mutual ■ s stance. Government assistance is •wing aaketl tor.

Public Works officers blasted a dangerous portion of the post office frontage. Earthquakes still continue at frequent intervals, but are of a less severe nature. There are numerous slips in the Buller Gorge, and there were many miraculous escapes of the line party out all night endeavouring to establish communication. TREMORS CONTINUED NELSON FACES HEAVY LOSSES DESTRUCTION OF COLLEGE Press Association NELSON, Today. Earthquake tremors continued during last night and this morning though shocks were not of very great severity. The community has had a most trying experience. Examination of some of the business premises which suffered most severely show that extensive repairs will be necessary. Communication beyond Owen Junction is still blocked and it is likely to be some time before it is renewed. Nelson College was so severely damaged by the earthquake that it is now unsafe for occupation. The tower collapsed and huge pieces of masonry and bricks crashed through the floors to the basement. Two major casualties occurred among the boys, and a number of others received scalp wounds from falling plaster. The two boys to fare the worst were R. McKay, son of Mr. J. G. McKay, assistant headmaster, and L. A. Baigent, son of Mrs. Baigent, of Grove Street. There was no panic at the school and the boys were taken from the swaying building as quickly as possible. Satisfactory arrangements have been made for the continuation of work at the college. Fortunately, most of the boarders were housed in the various college houses, and these have not been damaged. The main building, which has suffered so severely, will not be occupied. The Board of Governors held an urgent meeting today and decided to ask the Minister of Education to visit Nelson as soon as possible, and to bring with him the Government architect, so that the extent of the damage may be expertly surveyed. The Nelson Girls’ College was not damaged except for a fallen chimney, but the girls vacated the buildings. GREAT FALL OF EARTH

FOUR PEOPLE KILLED BULLER RIVER BLOCKED Press Association WELLINGTON, Monday. The acting-secretary of the General Post Office has received the following further information in connection with the earthquake from the postmaster at Murchison, forwarded by messenger to Glenhope: ’An earthquake, commencing at 10 a.m., culminated in a severe shock at 10.23 a.m., which caused considerable havoc. The Matakitaki River, a tributary of the Buller River, is blocked by a slip of thousands of tons of earth. The slip killed four people. "The Buller River is blocked by slips in the vicinity of Fern Flat. The residents are camping in the school ground, as the houses are uninhabitable. Two men are missing. Severe tremors with loud reports are still continuing.” From the Chief Postmaster, Christchurch: "From Greymouth it is reported there is no communication with Westport, and little chance of getting through, tonight.” __—

SLIDING HILLSIDE HOUSEHOLD OVERWHELMED RIVER BLOCKED Press Association NELSON, Today. It Is understood those killed at Murchison were Mr. C. Morel and Mrs. j Bush, her son and daughter. | It is stated that the hillside -which j came down and enveloped them was ' nearly half a mile away from the house. It is not a steep hill, but from i the meagre reports available, it ap- ! pears to have slid down across a valley over half a mile wide, blocking the Matakitaki River four mile 3 above Murchison. Mr. B. r\ Spiers, who came through to Glenhope to give warning of the blocked rivers, took nine hours to do the 30 miles. ENGINEER CRUSHED TONS OF LIMESTONE FATALITY AT CEMENT WORKS Press Association NELSON, Monday. A fatality as a result of the earthquake today occurred at the Golden Bay Cement Company’s works at Tarakohe, eight miles from Takaka. The third engineer at the works, Mr. A. D. Stubbs, was working in his office when many tons of limestone came crashing down the cliff and fell on to the office. As a result of his injuries Mr. Stubb died almost immediately. He was a married man, aged about 45 years, with a family. Half a dozen motor-cars which were standing in the neighbourhood of Mr. Stubbs’s office w-ere crushed by the falling debris, but a new building which the company erected recently remains intact. PLANES FOR WESTPORT

WIRELESS MEN AND MAIL TO LAND ON BEACH Press Associatio7i CHRISTCHURCH, Today. The Chief Postmaster at Christchurch this morning dispatched, in Moth airplanes to Westport, two operators with wireless experience. The planes also carried a letter mail. They will attempt a landing on the beach, and if ships have remained at Westport the operators will work from them. SURVEY OF DISTRICT Press Association BLENHEIM, Today. One of the Marlborough Aero Club’s Moths, chartered by Newman Bros, (motor and mail service proprietors) to make a survey of the Westport district, will leave Blenheim this afternoon for Westport, via Nelson, where Captain Chandler will pick up Mr. Jack Newman, who will accompany him as a passenger for the remainder of the journey.

greymouth stricken business area suffers ! GREAT FALL OF ROCK Press Association GREYMOUTH, Today. Great damage was caused to buildings in the commercial centre of Greymouth by yesterday’s earthquake. Many shops had their frontages destroyed and the stock was thrown all over the place. The buildings rocked in an alarming way. The post office ilock stopped at 10.19 a m. The “Evening Star’’ building was seriously damaged. Hundreds of chimneys In the Greymouth residential area have been destroyed. Water mains burst. Furniture was damaged in the schools. The Technical College laboratory was i wrecked. Patients in the hospital were greatly alarmed. The dispensary was des- j troyed. A huge chimney stack fell and damaged many telegraph and power lines. The most spectacular Incident of the earthquake was the falling of 100,000 tons of rock at the Cobden quarry, where 150 men were working. They had time barely to get clear as pieces of rock weighing many tons rolled across the road. The fall is far greater than ever secured by explosives. One workman, named Kelly, was struck on the leg by a stone. TREMORS THROUGHOUT THE NIGHT Press Association GREYMOUTH, Today. Karth tremors continued at fairly frequent intervals throughout the night, the last being felt at 7 o'clock this morning. All mines are working today except the State mine. Investigation of the damage proves that yesterday’s reports were not exaggerated. A slip at Kotuku, on the Otira line, has stopped all train traffic, hut it is hoped to resume running tomorrow. MINERS REACH SAFETY TERRIFYING EXPERIENCE CLOSE CALL FOR THREE Press Association GREYMOUTH, Tuesday. The coal miners generally had an awful experience during the earthquake. Fearing they were entombed they all rushed for the pitheads, emerging white and shaken. The roof of Armstrong's co-operative mine collapsed, but the men were all clear. Two miners were injured in the Briandale Colliery through striking props. Three miners were buried in the Blackball mine, but were quickly rescued. One miner was injured slightly on the head at the Rewanui State colliery. The Brunner district and the mines there escaped lightly. Most chimneys collapsed at Blackball, where the main road is blocked by the collapse of a hillside. Water and gas mains in Greymouth 1 were broken in several places, but the flow was quickly checked by the staffs. Until 6 p.m. the West Coast was cut off from telegraph communication with the rest of the country. FELT 8,100 MILES AWAY OBSERVATORY AT OTTAWA RECORDS ’QUAKE SYDNEY AND MELBOURNE (Australian and X.Z. Press Association) Reed. 9.5 a.m. OTTAWA, Monday. A severe earthquake, believed to be the one which shook New Zealand, was registered at the ! Dominion Observatory on Sunday ! evening at 6.9, a distance of 8,100 j miles. The time at the local epi- j centre was June 17, 10 a.m. SEVERE IN AUSTRALIA SYDNEY, Monday. * The earthquake felt in New Zealand this morning was recorded at Sydney with unusual severity. The seismograph at Sydney Observatory recorded the greatest disturbance at $.57 a.m. The boom of the instrument swung for seven minutes as widely as the instrument would allow. The officer in charge says he has never noted such violent and protracted waves on the seismograph. The vibrations lasted until 10 a.m. A message from Melbourne says the seismograph at the observatory there recorded the earthquake with considerable strength. It was the greatest ever registered on the instrument. A member of the observatory staff I *aid he could not obtain satisfactory readings owing to the violent agita- j tion of the boom. Earthquakes are believed to be due j some form of fracture caused by i Hie breakage of the earth’s substance under growing strain, when the JJJrain has passed the breaking point, i This gives rise to waves which are propagated through the solid substance to distant parts of the earth, and vertically upward to the surface, sometimes with disastrous effects. The point where the fracture occurs and the earthquake originates is called the seismic centre, or origin, or focus. That part of the earth which is vertically above this centre is called the epicentre. The waves transmitted through the earth may come to the surface hundreds, or even thousands. °f miles from the epicentre, and the times of arrival are recorded. The first uidications on the seismograph are made by longitudinal waves (P), which nre followed after an interval by direct transverse waves (S) in approximately th© same path, but which travel at a different rate. Prom the length of the interval of time between the arrival of the (P) *nd the (S) waves, the distance of the epicentre from the recording station may be inferred, and from three or more such distances it is possible to make an estimate of the position of the epicentre on the earth's surface. There i* no very certain method for determining the depth of the focus, but it that this may range from 50 to 4 50 km.

RAILWAY TWISTED

DAMAGE AT INANGAHUA Press Association REEFTON, Today. Slight earthquake shocks were felt all day yesterday and during the night and this morning. Much damage is reported from the luangahua Valley, the railway line to Inanguhua Junction being twisted and raised in places. AIL chimneys were levelled. At lnangahua Junction Bridge two pillars were cracked, and foot-boards were wrenched off. The road at Dee Hill is reported to have slipped away. Through a slip on a hill at Rocklands, Mr. Walker’s house is stated to have suffered. WHITE ISLAND IS NORMAL White Island Products, Ltd., Auckland, has received the following message from the engineer in charge of the island: "White Island, June 18. to the general manager: No earthquake felt here yesterday. Everything in crater normal. Work proceeding without interruption.”