Wanganui earthquake of 1843
| Wanganui earthquake of 1843 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| Coordinates | 39 ° 56 ′ 0 ″ S , 175 ° 3 ′ 0 ″ E | ||
| date | July 8, 1843 | ||
| Magnitude | 7.5 M L | ||
| epicenter | near Wanganui | ||
| country | New Zealand | ||
| Affected places | |||
| Tsunami | No | ||
| dead | 2 | ||
The Wanganui earthquake of 1843 was the first earthquake in New Zealand to be officially recorded.
The colonization of New Zealand by the Europeans was still in its infancy and the Māori only had oral traditions and legends . The settlers also had little experience of earthquakes and the technical possibilities for taking measurements were extremely limited. For this reason, the data situation for this event is poor and geological research into the cause and effect of the quake is difficult.
Quake
What is certain is that the earthquake occurred on July 8, 1843. It is estimated to have a magnitude of 7.5 on the Richter scale , and the epicenter of the quake is believed to be near what is now the city of Wanganui .
There was talk of a powerful earthquake that made people have difficulty walking. Many houses were damaged and a church in Pūtiki, (now part of Wanganui), which was built of bricks, was destroyed. Documented is the death of two people who were buried in a landslide . In the river bed of the Whanganui River , deep cracks are said to have formed and a large area of the Shakespeare Cliff to have slipped into the river.
Investigations of landslides on the coast south of Cape Kidnappers in the Hawke's Bay region , which can be assigned to the year 1843, led to the idea that the center of the quake might have been more to the east than the landslides in Hawke's Bay would explain better. It also helped explain breaks in the ground near Napier .
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ Earthquakes . Wanganui District Council , archived from the original on May 26, 2010 ; accessed on January 21, 2016 (English, original website no longer available).
- ↑ Eileen R. McSaveney : Landslide-related fatalities in New Zealand . (PDF; 90 kB) Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand , accessed on March 2, 2010 (English).
- ↑ Manawatu-Wanganui - Historical Disasters By Region . Civil Defense of New Zealand , archived from the original on May 14, 2010 ; accessed on May 22, 2019 (English, original website no longer available).
- ↑ Earthquakes . Hawkes Bay Civil Defense Emergency Management Group , archived from the original on May 25, 2010 ; accessed on January 21, 2016 (English, original website no longer available).