| Napier Earthquake |
Website Links For 1931 |
Information AboutNapier Earthquake |
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The Napier ''Daily Telegraph'' had recently celebrated its diamond jubilee with an article describing Napier as "the Nice of the Pacific". The newspaper office was destroyed by the quake. The ''Hawke's Bay Herald'' offices in Hastings were also destroyed. EFFECTS OF THE EARTHQUAKE Nearly all buildings in the central areas of Napier and Hastings were levelled and 256 people were killed: 161 people in Napier, 93 in Hastings, and two in Wairoa . Thousands more were injured, with over 400 hospitalised. The local landscape changed dramatically, with the coastal areas around Napier being lifted by around two metres. Some 40 km² of sea-bed became dry land, where the airport, housing and industrial property developments now exist. Fires broke out in wooden buildings, which had survived the earthquake better than masonry and brick buildings. In Hastings the fires were quickly brought under control, but in Napier the water supply system had been destroyed by the quake and no water was available to fight the fires. The death toll might have been much higher had the Royal Navy ship HMS "Veronica" not been in port at the time. The Veronica's radio was used to transmit news of the disaster to the outside world and to seek assistance. The sailors joined survivors to fight the fires, rescue trapped people and help give them medical treatment. A group of prisoners working at Bluff Hill in Napier had four of their number buried by the quake. The remaining prisoners dug them out, but two had been killed. The prisoners re-assembled without any attempt to escape and were locked up in the Napier Gaol. In Havelock North , St Luke's church was destroyed just before a wedding was due to take place. The couple still married later in the day, but outdoors. Within four days of the quake, cinemas around New Zealand offered news specials about the disaster. New Zealand's first commercial air disaster occurred six days after the quake, when a Dominion Airlines Desoutter monoplane crashed near Wairoa. The small airline had been making three return trips a day between Hastings and Gisborne, carrying passengers and supplies. All three on board were killed. REBUILDING The earthquake prompted a thorough review of New Zealand Building Codes , which were found to be totally inadequate. Many buildings built during the 1930s and 1940s are heavily reinforced, although more recent research has developed other strengthening techniques. To this day there are few buildings in Hawke's Bay taller than five stories, and as most of Napier's rebuilding took place in the 1930s when Art Deco was fashionable, Napier architecture is regarded today as being one of the finest examples of Art Deco anywhere. Hastings was also rebuilt with many Art Deco and Spanish Mission Style buildings. On the tenth anniversary of the earthquake, the '' New Zealand Listener '' reported that Napier had risen from the ashes like a phoenix. "Napier today is a far lovelier city than it was before", it quoted the 1931 principal of Napier Girls' High School as saying. REFERENCES
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