THE EARTHQUAKE. REPORTS FROM NORTH CANTERBURY. ALARMING NOISES FROM THE HILLS. DESTRUCTION OF SEVERAL STATIONS. A VOLCANIC ERUPTION FEARED. (BY TELEGRAPH.-PRESS ASSOCIATION.) Christchurch. this day.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 297, 8 September 1888, Page 3

THE EARTHQUAKE. RE PORTS FROM NORTH CANTERBURY. ALARMING NOISES FROM THE HILLS. DESTRUCTION OF SEVERAL STATIONS. A VOLCANIC ERUPTION FEARED. (BY TELEGRAPH.-PRESS ASSOCIATION.) Christchurch. this day.

AJr W. A. Low, of Sb. Helens, of Hamner Plains, states that for three weeks back strange rumbling noises have been heard ! from the hillb ac the back of Jollio's j Pass, but till Thursday evening thoy were not thought much of at Iho plain?, as they were put down to wind or some other cause. On lhat evening these sounds were followed by obheis more alarming, which nearly resembled the 1 eport ot single pieces of mu&ketiy tired in rapid succession. Theso were shortly succeeded by shocks ot earthquake at about ten minutes* past 10 in the evening. Ever since bhen the noises gained in force until on Saturday morning they were deafening, and continued Jo be so till the violent shock which did such damage followed. The diiection from which the sounds have come through the gorge appears to have been from the head waters of the Awatere lUver. pastClai once at. a point where the accommodation house stands and between the ranges to Jollies Pas&, where they, in meeting the open plains, appear to ha\e died away, as they had not been noticed further South. At St. Helen's fetation, 3 chimneys were completely smashed — not broken off at the top only, as in Chri&tchurch, but smashed up completely. One fell through the roof of the kitchen, one through the conservatory and one outside. Mv Low lemoved his family to .Jollies Pass Hotel, which had sustained no injury, and the furniture was put into a wool-s>httd. He estimates the cost of repairs at from £150 to £200. At Woodbank property, Mr W. Atkinson's large brick house, erected there about five years ago, and fitted up with every convenience, and nicely furnished, is a complete wreck. Thero was a large two-storey wooden addition recently made to it, which was set on a concrete foundation. This has been forced off the foundation about two feet, and is otherwise considerably damaged. The men's hut is a complete wreck. One of the men who was inside when the shock came, was slightly injured by the falling of a rafter. Mr Atkinson removed to Culverden Hotel with his family on Saturday. At Hopfield station the px-operty of Mr W. Acton Adams, which is> situated on the south side of the river further up the gorge, the station house completely collapsed. The manager left it on Saturday, taking his family with him. At Glynn Wye Station, still further up the river on the north side, a large dwellinghouse, the property of Messrs A. and D. Rutheiford, was first thrown bodily against the terrace at the back, and then completely wrecked. Besides this, the men's but, a large two-storey iron building, was wrecked. The manager, Mr Oliver Thompson, and his men were fortunately in possession of tents, and arc now utilising them as temporary residences. The stone walls of a large woolshed are an entire wreck. The barn roof has fallen in, and a concrete dip has been literally shaken to piece". Up the river and on the terraces along the banks leading to Glynn Roye, fissures appear in number, ranging in size from 3 inches to 12 inches in width, and of varied lengths. These also appear in parts of Percival River bed in Hamner Plains, but aie not so large. In Upper Waiau (Jorge, since Saturday morning several new hot spi ings have appeared, principally in the ilat below Jollies Pass, near the curative baths. These have nob been affected in the slightest. The buildings round them have remained inttac. Theie ha-< been considerable damage done in the Lower Amuri. The Ferry Hotel, close by the Bridge, is considerably dilapidated, but Mr Holmes, the proprietor, has not found it necessary to leave, and is setting about repairs. Ac Leslie Hills on the north aide of the river a large stone dwelling hou&e, built about ten years ago, the property of Messrs A. and TX Rutherford, is a complete wreck. ilecent addition in woed was considerably shaken and all the plastered walls have come down. Mr and Mr Duncan Rutherford and family have taken refuge with their brother at Montrose. Altogether the damage in Amuri, .so fatas Mr Low has made out, amounts in the aggregate to 3everal thousands of pounds. Mr W. A. Low, of St, Helen's station, who ai rived in Christchurch yesterday morning, supplied particulars gwhich showed very clearly the severity of the shock in the | Northern district. There was no information tromSt. James's station or theaccommodatiou house of the Clarence - Acheron Junction, occupied by one of Mr Low's married shepherds. It was noticed by seveial workmen on Sfc. James's that for some days back a booming sound was heard at the Hot Springs in the Edwards Valley. Ever since Saturday morning, heavy booming sounds like the noise ot cannon have been heard, and invariably accompanied by an earthquake a second or two afterwards. The sounds seemed to come straight from the north or north-east, through Jollies Pass. It was possible there may have been eruptions above the head of the Awatere River. It was well known that at some period there have been great disturbances along the base of Tupunaka, and a fissure many feet in width can yet be braced along the Awatere Valley. On Saturday, some small fissures were to be seen along the Percival River bed in the Hanmer Plains. In the Waiau Gorge, towards Glynroye and Hopefield, there are fissures from 6 inches to 12 inches wide. These small fissures soon closed up on account of the soil rolling into them through the constant shaking which hus taken place.

THE EFFECTS AT HANMER SPRINGS. At the Hanmer Springs proper there has been no damage to buildings. These were uninjured, and the only indication of an upheaval of the earth was the spilling of the water out of one of the natural basins. While so little of the shock was felt there, houses 20 miles away were shattered to atoms. Stone buildings had completely collapsed, and some wooden ones had been shifted many inches on their foundations.