NATURAL & NORMAL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 23 July 1942, Page 2

NATURAL & NORMAL

EARTHQUAKES IN NEW ZEALAND. ROTARY CLUB ADDRESS. An informative address on earthquakes was given at today’s luncheon of the Masterton Rotary Club by Se-cond-Lieutenant E. C. Coddington. Second-Lieutenant Coddington emphasised that earthquakes were perfectly natural and normal occurrences. They occured every day in various parts of the world and the vast majority of them were perfectly harmless. One out of many thousands would cause damage and destruction, just as one out of many thousands of rainy days might cause disastrous floods. Earthquakes were caused by sudden movements in the strata of the crust of the earth. The speaker referred in detail to the cause and effect of earthquakes, specially on the great fault lines in the Mediterranean, India, and the Pacific. The supposed connection between weather and earthquakes, he said, had no basis in actual fact. It had been found in New Zealand that the average number of earthquakes for each month had a direct relationship to the average barometric pressure. Most earthquakes occurred on well-defined fault lines. Details were given of the more important faults in New Zealand. People should realise that earthquakes were natural phenomena and that a deal could be done to minimise the danger of such occurrences. Most of the lives lost in earthquakes were due to buildings being unsuitable. If the correct building materials were used there should be little to fear from earthquakes.