The Earthquake: Hawkes Bay 10.46 am 3rd February 1931

This day 82 years ago at 10.46 in the morning occurred what was in terms of loss of life the biggest disaster ever to occur on New Zealand soil whilst it has been inhabited by humankind. Although it is known as the Napier or Hawkes Bay Earthquake it actually affected much of the Country. The shock brought down buildings between Gisborne and Waipawa. It toppled chimneys from Taupo to Wellington.

For most of the Hawkes Bay residents the disaster is something remembered at the memorial service held on Art Deco Weekend and also in the very fabric of the area's culture and physical rebuilding.  For those in Christchurch the earthquakes of 22 February 2011 and 4 September 2010 and the 11,000 (yes, 11, 000!)  smaller earthquakes experienced since the first one is a much greater disaster.


The impact of the HB Quake can be judged from the letters, diaries, memoirs and photographs of rescuers who desparately worked to free victims from wreckage before the town was consumed by fire, of nurses and doctors who tended the injured in makeshift hospitals and the refugees who walked down broken roads with what they could carry from their salvagable belongings.

The wooden buildings of central Napier largely escaped the earthquake only to be destroyed by the fire that raged through the business district of the town an hour or so after the quake.

The official death toll was 256 with, despite outstanding efforts, two people unaccounted for. Over 400 were hospitalised with serious injuries. At least 2500 received minor injuries although this was never fully evaluated because many people with minor injuries never bothered to report them to the authorities.

The cost was not just death and injury nor was it just physical destruction of property. It threatened an already depressed economy - the second summer of depression - with complete ruin. News of the calamity even depressed prices on the London Stock Exchange.

The following are a few of the photos that appear on the Napier Government website. I will post more about the earthquake over the next weeks particularly in relation to the land changes that took place. The Wikepedia web entry is informative as is The Encyclopedia of New Zealand.

Emerson Street

Emerson Street

Napier Earthquake building damage and the buildings today.

Christchurch - One Year Later

Napier has just celebrated Art Deco weekend.  This is not just a celebration of Napier's Art Deco heritage.  It is also the weekend when the Napier earthquake of 1931 is remembered and the efforts of those who re-built the city from the ruins are commemorated.

The Napier quake happened on Tuesday 3 February 1931.  This day last year, 80 years 19 days 2 hours and 4 minutes after the Napier Quake the February Quake struck Christchurch.

I know of no better way of showing you the outcome of the Christchurch Quake than suggesting you visit Fiona's post A Quake Milestone next week - One Year Later.

My comment on Fiona's post was:

Few who are living today and who has not lived through all that Cantabrians have lived through over the last year can have any true idea what it has been like.  Perhaps some of the very senior residents of Napier when the 1931 earthquake struck can remember it.  But for people like me who have followed this blog over the last year it is unimaginable.  That does not stop it having been an extremely harrowing and emotional experience.  The difference is that when I have wiped the tears temporarily from my eyes and the thoughts temporarily from my mind I am free of the aftershocks and living with the daily physicality of the City.

I have said it many times before and I can but repeat it: I cannot imagine what you are all going through and my heart goes out to you.

I cannot think of a better summing up for the day than that by Fiona summed at the end of her post:

It is certainly not all sad - there continue to be pluses among the changes; it has been nice to meet new people, have different friendships, changed priorities and re-appreciate the small stuff, families, a roof over our heads. Just today we talked at work about how good it was to enjoy certain things - and I mentioned that just having constant power and water still seems a huge positive to me!

You really don't know what you've got 'til it's gone.

I hope you will think of us all at 12.51pm Wednesday 22nd Feb as we observe two minutes silence.

I know that I shall.

The Earthquake: Hawkes Bay 10.46 am 3rd February 1931

This day 77 years ago at 10.46 in the morning occurred the biggest disaster ever to hit New Zealand whilst it has been inhabited by humankind. Although it is known as the Napier or Hawkes Bay Earthquake it actually affected much of the Country. The shock brought down buildings between Gisborne and Waipawa. It toppled chimneys from Taupo to Wellington.

The impact can be judged from the letters, diaries, memoirs and photographs of rescuers who desparately worked to free victims from wreckage before the town was consumed by fire, of nurses and doctors who tended the injured in makeshift hospitals and the refugees who walked down broken roads with what they could carry from their salvagable belongings.

The wooden buildings of central Napier largely escaped the earthquake only to be destroyed by the fire that raged through the business district of the town an hour or so after the quake.

The official death toll was 256 with, despite outstanding efforts, two people unaccounted for. Over 400 were hospitalised with serious injuries. At least 2500 received minor injuries although this was never fully evaluated because many people with minor injuries never bothered to report them to the authorities.

The cost was not just death and injury nor was it just physical destruction of property. It threatened an already depressed economy - the second summer of depression - with complete ruin. News of the calamity even depressed prices on the London Stock Exchange.

The following are a few of the photos that appear on the Napier Government website. I will post more about the earthquake over the next weeks particularly in relation to the land changes that took place. The Wikepedia web entry is informative as is The Encyclopedia of New Zealand.

Emerson Street

Emerson Street

Napier Earthquake building damage and the buildings today.