Eighty four years ago today, the 3rd February 1931 at 10.46am a 7.8 magnitude stuck Napier. It lasted two and a half minutes. There would be 525 after shocks in the following fortnight. 258 people died in the Hawkes Bay. Hospitals, railways, gas lines, roads and buildings were destroyed. The land area was pushed up out of the sea. A royal navy boat the HMS Veronica came to the rescue. The years following saw the rebuilt of Napier. These days Napier is the Art Deco Capital of New Zealand.
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photos from Percy Caz Sorrell
Catastrophic to say the least.
ReplyDeleteI still remember my grandmother telling me that she had to hide under her desk at school and how her aunt was in the bath when it happened and jumped out and ran down the street. must've been frightening :-(
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