EARTHQUAKE.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXVI, Issue 2956, 25 June 1891, Page 2

EARTHQUAKE.

At 10.."il r,.m. yesterday a smart shock of earthquake, was felt in Hamilton, and witliin a few secondß of tlio first tremors buinir felt, tho ordinary quiet appearance of Victoria-street, Hamilton, presented quite an animated scene, small knots of people congregating in the middlo of the street, discussing tlio event in a more or less excited nnnner. Very few of tlio residents remained within the walls of t'.ieir tenements, tho.se occupied in any upper story had the greatest fright, as tho casements rattled and the beams in the roof creaked in a decidedly ominoiiH manner. Some amusing stories are related of the general utampedo that took ploco, when tho uumist.'ikeahlc of earthquake woro realised, of people bolting down tho stairs without coat or hat, only too anxious to get clnar of tho. building, Seldom have we soon our junior reporter make such excellent uso of the splendid extremities with which a bountiful Providence has endowed him, than in his lightning-like descent from his room on the second floor to a place of safety on the Htreet. One stride brought him down tho first flight of stairs, another down the second, and a third took him from tho bottom of the staircase to tho centre of tho roadway, where he .stood awaiting—but not for long—the excited exodus of tho main body of the staff—edit-r, compositor*, dovila and all. Our editor (so he himself eays), during his "leisurely " walk throupli the lobby, was contemplating how his accident insurance policy would he affected should he become a victim were the building to collapse ; the compositors (who, as a class, are the bravest of iren—when there is no danger) had not got time to think of anything, and the only effect the shock appeared to have upon them was a visible deepening of the fine healthy glow upon their cheeks, for which they are famous. There being close on a dozen of our stalF, they were certainly the most ".collected " persons in the street. A local bootmaker informs us that lie no sooner felt tho first tromnr3 than hn ignored the old i-.dago "Let not tho shoomrtVer go beyond hi-i last," and taking a flying leap owe tho counter, he was soon in tho. street, endeavouring to construct the word " earthquake" out of thfl sentence " Wear 1). Salmon's boots." The vibrations continued for about twenty seconds, and t!ie motion was generally considered to havo been from noith-Riist to south-west, although some different opinions have been expressed. Within tho space of five minutes reports cimiß in through tho Telegraph qtries from Higlnn and Te Mata that similar disturbance had occurred in those districts. From K-iglan we hear the tremors were imme'liately preceded by :\ dull, rumbling sound, and some re-idents of Hamilton assert that they heard (he same, but it was not generally remarked. About a quarter of an hour later a second shock, but very slight, was felt, (BV TELECIIAPH— OWN" COBRRSPOSIIEVM). Auckland, Last Night. A smart shock of earthquake was folt this morning, and it naturally astonished our citizens who are quite unaccustomed to this variety of terrcstial disturbance, tt is 20 or '27 years since any previous shock occurred and that was a very slight ono. A sharp shock occurred 31 years ago in Wellington whore thero are from six to sixteen earthquake shocks every year, and the Auckland provincial district north of the Thermal Springs country has hitherto been regarded as tho only part of tho colony which enj'.yed absolute immunity from tho saismio disturbance. Tie p:e->ent quake occurred just before oloven o'clock to-day, the direction of tho tremor being apparently from about .S.K. t<> N. W. iind lasting for about ten socon is. The shock was accompanied by a distinctly perceptible rumble and residents in tho suburbs describe the sound us that of a heavily ladeu waggon passing over the, road. Thoso who timed the shock state that there were two earthquakes one slight and the other immediately following rather moro severe. Nearly every building in town vibrated moro or less with the shakos and the oscillation in some of the larger brick buildings in the city seemed to havo rather alarmed the. occupints who ran out into the street. ynito largo numbers of people complained of headio'ie afwr the .shock. The shock cuiFed tlio new Custom House building to osoillat3 rather violently but the only daraagn :1 mn was a rent in tho ceiling of the building in the Survey Department. Mr Cheeseman, curator of the. museum, says tho shock is about the most seven; y»t experienced in Auckland. Tho course i.~ uncertain until full reports from other dis'ricts coino to hand. Very littln damage was caused in town by the earthquake, tlio injuries to tlia buildings most elFectud boinir confined t<, falls of plaster, etc. In Messrs Collins Bios.'establishment in Fort-street a brick wall was somewhat damaged and the staircase shifted several inctn , ?. In the Xowtou Savings liank thero was a fall of plaster from the roof, but no other damage. Telegrams received from tho various districts relative to the earthquake show that at Otahiilm the school children ware dismissed owing to the building shaking. Mont people were excited, and clocks and time»piecos were slopped. A general shake up of china took place at Mercer, and bricks fell from Mr Hunter's chimney, which was thrown out of place from south to west. At Waiukn the rumbling van noticed attending the shock. Reports show that the earthquake was felt an far north as Mangawhara. Huxtly, Yesterday. A sharp earthquake shock was felt hare this morning at 10.55, the seeming direction being east and west. Chimneys were cracked and furniture displaced in many places. The miners in the Waikato Company's mine were greatly alarmed, and ceased work for the remainder of the day. Tk Auoha, Yasterday. A sharp shock of earthquake was felt here to»day at 10.53 a.m. Uhaupo, Yesterday. A sharp shock of earthquake was felt at 11.15 to-day, going frjm west to east. There was considerable tremor of builciings and furniture and alarming of cattle. Thames, Last Ni?ht. One of the most severe earthquake shocks felt for years was experienced hero at 10 30 a.m. to-day. It was also felt at To At-oha and Coromaiidel with pqual severity. RoTOKUA, Yesterday. The earthquake reported from Auckland this morning was not felt hero. Everything is quiet and the weather is lovely. OPOTOKI, Yesterday. The Star's correspondent wired :—" Just been looking at White Island ; all quiet thero. There apparently seems less Rteam than usual hanging over it. This I account for by the fresh south-east breeze blowing." WaKOANUI, Last Night. A slight shock was felt hero this morning. Cahbridok, Last Night. Tho earthquake gave the Cambridge people an jnpleasant surprise. The inhabitants of Duko Street rushed out of the buildings, and the Native Land Court that was sitting in the Public Hall broke the record for adjourning, for although Judge Puckey endeavoured to persuade tho natives to sit still when the first shock came, no sooner was it followed by a second than a general stampede occurred, and the Judge was left sohiM. Tho cbek in Mr Walla' store was stopped, and a number of lamp glasses were thrown down. Several individuals felt quite sea sick after tho shocks had passed. Theie appears to be n diversity of opinion as to the time and direction of the shocks, the time varying from ten seconds to three minutes, and tho direction embraces protty well all points of the compass. Fortunately no damage was done.