Hawke's Bay earthquake of 1931
| Hawke's Bay earthquake of 1931 | |||
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| Coordinates | 39 ° 20 ′ 0 ″ S , 177 ° 0 ′ 0 ″ E | ||
| date | February 3, 1931 | ||
| Time | 10:46:47 | ||
| intensity | 10 on the MM scale | ||
| Magnitude | 7.8 M S | ||
| depth | 20 km | ||
| epicenter | Aropaoanui
(20 km north of Napier)
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| country | New Zealand | ||
| Affected places |
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| Tsunami | No | ||
| dead | 258 | ||
| Injured | 3000 | ||
| damage | NZ $ 512 million | ||
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The Hawke's Bay earthquake of 1931 was the most momentous earthquake in New Zealand's relatively young European history .
On February 3, 1931 at 10:46:47 a.m., a tremor with a magnitude of 7.8 on the Richter scale partially destroyed the cities of Napier , Hastings and Havelock North and drew a band of devastation in a northeast and southwest direction through the Hawke's region Bay . There were 258 fatalities and almost 3,000 injured. Numerous aftershocks, which culminated on February 13 with the 7.3 earthquake, did not allow the region to calm down for weeks.
geography
The epicenter of the quake was located near the coast in the area of the Aropaoanui River almost 20 kilometers north-northeast of Napier. The center of the destruction moved from the Aropaoanui River, where the bottom rose highest at 2.7 meters, northeast towards Wairoa and southwest over Hastings, where the bottom subsided, to Waipawa , Waipukurau and the entire Central Hawke's Bay District . The quake could be felt on almost the entire southern half of the North Island and continued noticeably over the entire South Island to Invercargill .
Tectonic environment
Hawke's Bay is located on the Australian plate , 150 kilometers west of the Hikurangi Trough , which lies off the continental shelf of New Zealand. This transition from the trough to the base represents the beginning of the friction zone between the Australian plate and the Pacific plate , at which the two plates converge at an angle of about 42 mm per year and the Pacific plate pushes itself under the Australian plate with a west-southwest movement.
At the points where the Australian Plate is lifted, fractures occur, which develop as faults running from northeast to southwest, either in the visible surface or even hidden in the subsurface. One of these faults, known since 1931 as the Napier-Hawkes-Bay Fault, which extends from Pakipaki southwest of Hastings via Napier under the lake floor to Wairoa, was obscured and visibly erupted with the February 3rd earthquake.
Geological and geographical changes
The consequences of breaking up the fault, which had been hidden up to this point, could be observed on the one hand in the elevation of the bottom of the Ahuriri Lagoon from around 1.8 meters to the epicenter of 2.7 meters, while the bottom in the Hastings area sank. The earth's surface developed cracks and breaks in many places along the entire length of the fault. This could be seen most clearly on the streets, and photo documents of vehicles stuck in broken roads clearly demonstrate this.
The 3,000 hectares large lagoon was drained by raising the most part and the Tutaekuri River in the Heretaunga Plains , which led far into the lagoon, was with the quake forced a new river bed and now flows almost 10 kilometers south of Napier close to the small Place Clive in the Pacific Ocean . The current districts of Marewa , Onekawa and Pirimai are in the area of the former lagoon, as is the Napier airport.
The quake
According to official figures, the quake claimed 161 lives in Napier, 93 in Hastings and 2 in Wairoa. Presumably, however, the death toll was 258, because on the memorial to commemorate the victims there are two more names than were given in the official lists, one more victim each in Waiora and Napier. Around 400 injured people were treated in hospitals, and at least 2,500 people were injured or suffered shocks. The property damage was estimated at a total of approximately 300 million New Zealand dollars based on the 2007 value .
description
Without any warning, the earth rose in the first 30 seconds of the first shock wave , what those affected described as lifting a heavy sledgehammer . Houses swayed and partly lost their outer walls, ornate gable triangles and chimneys fell down. People were injured in their homes from falling furniture, others on the sidewalks from falling debris. Telephone connections and power lines were cut abruptly. Cars sped up or stopped as the streets heaved and undulated.
After about 30 seconds of rest, the floor rose again. Some felt it was downward movement, but the effect was like a wave movement. That moment was the most destructive, buildings collapsed and debris fell and rolled onto the street. Some of the people who ran into the street at the first impact were hit by house walls and rubble. Cars were smashed. The final shock wave has been described by many as a sound like the sound of boiling water. After a total of two and a half minutes, the quake was over and in Napier and Hastings the streets and buildings were shrouded in clouds of dust from crushed concrete, mortar, plaster and broken brick. The rocky hill towards the port of Napier had broken off at the rocky falls and numerous large landslides had changed its appearance. Houses built too close to the cliff had fallen. In contrast to Hastings and Havelock North, where the streets were wider and more spacious, large fires broke out in Napier due to the narrowness, which led to further destruction.
Help
By the evening, the intelligence services had spread reports based on rumors of over 1,000 dead in the earthquake area. All communications had been cut; but due to the fact that the HMS Veronica , a ship of the Royal Navy , was in the port of Napier and could still use working radio links, the numbers were quickly corrected the next morning and detailed information about the extent of the destruction was given.
Since there was no functioning civil protection in New Zealand in those years and the road connections were not yet well developed, the navy was the only authority that could bring rapid help in this situation. A sea maneuver with the Australian Navy was canceled by the commander Geoffrey Blake and two ships, the HMS Dunedin and HMS Diomede , were immediately ordered to Napier. In the twilight of the following day, the two ships arrived, anchored two miles from the port entrance and began, the crew, divided into rescue teams, clean-up teams, supply teams and fire-fighting units, with quick and rapid assistance. More ships and supplies came in the following days.
The saying Thanks God for the Navy , which has been firmly anchored in people's minds since then and can also be found frequently in publications, was shaped by the quick and uncomplicated help of the Navy, especially since other structures that would have provided this help can, failed.
Financial disaster
After the earthquake disaster, a financial disaster loomed on the London Stock Exchange , on which all share prices related to the Hawke's Bay region and also related to New Zealand fell rapidly, especially those of insurance companies.
The government tried to guarantee a full payout of insurance claims with a NZ $ 720 million bond. But in times of the Great Depression , confidence in such measures was not great and the national bankruptcy in the next five years was forecast.
The local administrations were asked to finance the reconstruction from their own resources, but in the political power game in view of the upcoming elections the government finally gave in and financed the construction of public buildings, roads, railways and bridges with the equivalent of NZ $ 127,440,000 also gave money to businesses and building administrations.
However, some places were forgotten: B. The chairman of the board of the city of Havelock North fought for only NZ $ 288,000, which the city needed for urgent repairs to electricity, water and drainage, but he was turned away.
reconstruction
Napier was so devastated that some suggested that it should be razed to the ground and the city rebuilt elsewhere on the other side of the hill. 14 days after the earthquake, the Daily Telegraph came up with the proposal to build a new Napier similar to Santa Barbara in California . Santa Barbara was seen as a role model as it was completely destroyed after the 1925 earthquake and was rebuilt in the Spanish mission style. The idea was supported by the city's architects and developed further under the leadership of the Reconstruction Committee . New guidelines for buildings have been issued and construction work has started quickly. Most of the renovations took place between late 1931 and early 1935 in order to be able to reopen the shops quickly. Many buildings were built in the Art Deco style.
See also
literature
- David M. Johnson, Lisa J. Pearse : Hazards in Hawke's Bay . Hawke's Bay Regional Council , Napier 2007, ISBN 1-877405-13-2 (English).
- Matthew Wright : Quake - Hawke's Bay 1931 . Reed Publishing (NZ) Ltd. , Auckland 2001, ISBN 0-7900-0776-2 (English).
- Robert McGregor : The Hawkes Bay Earthquake . Art Deco Trust , Napier 1998, ISBN 0-9582030-0-8 (English).
- J. Henderson : Geological aspects of the Hawkes Bay earthquake . In: New Zealand of Science and Technology . Vol. XV, No. 1 , July 1933 (English).
- The Full Story of the Great Earthquake Disaster . In: The Weekender (Overseas Edition) . Christchurch February 25, 1931 (English).
Web links
- M 7.8, Hawke's Bay, February 3, 1931 . GeoNet - GNS Science ,accessed April 7, 2013.
- Hastings Street after the Napier earthquake . Christchurch Library,accessed April 7, 2013(February 4, 1931 photograph).
Individual evidence
- ^ M 7.8, Hawke's Bay, February 3, 1931 . GeoNet - GNS Science , accessed April 7, 2013 .
- ↑ a b The Full Story of the Great Earthquake Disaster . In: The Weekender . 1931, p. 1 (English).
- ↑ Bay Quake Highlights NZ'S vulnerability . GNS Science , February 2, 2001, archived from the original on August 21, 2010 ; accessed on April 7, 2013 (English, original website no longer available, link to WaybackMachine from August 21, 2010).
- ^ A b McGregor : The Hawkes Bay Earthquake . 1998.
- ^ New Zealand Desasters - Hawke's Bay earthquake . Christchurch Library , accessed February 20, 2010 .
- ^ Story: Historic earthquakes - The 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake . Te Ara - Encyclopedia of New Zealand , accessed February 20, 2010 .
- ^ Wright : Quake - Hawke's Bay 1931 . 2001.
- ^ Johnson, Pearse : Hazards in Hawke's Bay . 2007, p. 10 .