The Hawke's Bay earthquake, also known as the Napier earthquake, occurred in New Zealand at 10:47 am on Tuesday February 3, 1931, killing 256^[1] and devastating the Hawke's Bay region. Centred 15 km north of Napier, it lasted for two and a half minutes and was estimated to have measured about 7.8 on the Richter scale, and 7.9 on the modern Richter Scale. The earthquake struck with a massive upthrust, and half a minute later came a huge resettling. There were 525 aftershocks recorded in the following two weeks. The main shock could be felt in much of the lower half of the North Island. is the 34th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1931 (MCMXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1931 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Hawkes Bay is a region of New Zealand. ... The T & G Building (Atkin & Mitchell, Wellington, 1936) Napier (Ahuriri in Māori) is an important port city in Hawkes Bay, New Zealand. ... The Richter magnitude test scale (or more correctly local magnitude ML scale) assigns a single number to quantify the size of an earthquake. ... North Island The North Island is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, the other being the South Island. ...

Effects of the earthquake

Damage to the Hawkes Bay Tribune building

Nearly all buildings in the central areas of Napier and Hastings were levelled and the death toll ^[1] included 161 people in Napier, 93 in Hastings, and two in Wairoa. Thousands more were scared shitless, 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. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... The T & G Building (Atkin & Mitchell, Wellington, 1936) Napier (Ahuriri in Māori) is an important port city in Hawkes Bay, New Zealand. ... Hastings is the administrative centre of the Hastings District in the Hawkes Bay Region of the North Island of New Zealand. ... This article is about the New Zealand town. ...

The most noticeable land change was the uplifting of the Ahuriri Lagoon. The lagoon was lifted more than 2.7 metres, which resulted in draining the lagoon. This is the location of the current Hawke's Bay Airport.

Within minutes fires broke out in chemist shops in Hastings Street. The fire brigade almost had the first fire under control when the second broke out in a shop at the back of the Masonic Hotel. The hotel was quickly engulfed in flames. The wind at this point also picked up strength and began blowing from the east, pushing the fires back over the city. With water mains broken the brigade was unable to save many buildings. Pumping water from Clive Square they were able to stop the fires spreading South. Only a few buildings in the central Napier area survived. Some withstood the earthquake only to be gutted by fire. Trapped people had to be left to burn as people were unable to free them in time. By Wednesday morning the main fires were out but the ruins still smouldered for several days.

Damage to the Hastings Post Office

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 sea breeze turned and blew towards the city, and the fire burned down most of Napier. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...

The death toll might have been much higher had the Royal Navy ship HMS Veronica not been in port at the time. Within minutes of the shock the Veronica had sent radio messages asking for help. The sailors joined survivors to fight the fires, rescue trapped people and help give them medical treatment. The Veronica's radio was used to transmit news of the disaster to the outside world and to seek assistance. The crew from two cargo ships, the Northumberland and Taranaki, also joined the crew of the Veronica. Two cruisers, the Dunedin and Diomede, were dispatched from Auckland that afternoon with food, tents, medicine, blankets, and a team of doctors and nurses. The cruisers sailed at high speed overnight, arrived on the 4th of February and provided valuable assistance in all areas until their departure on the 11th of February. This article is about the navy of the United Kingdom. ... HMS Veronica was a Royal Navy Acacia class sloop built by Dunlop Bremner & Company, Port Glasgow, completed in May 1915. ...

A group of prisoners working at Bluff Hill in Napier had four of their number buried in a landslip 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 got married later in the day, but outdoors. Havelock North is a town in New Zealand, in the North Islands Hawkes Bay region. ...

Within four days of the quake, cinemas around New Zealand offered news specials about the disaster.

Another casualty of the earthquake was the Napier trams. These stopped forever.

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. Desoutter Aircraft Company was a British aircraft manufacturer based in Croydon. ...

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. Time Zone CET (GMT +1) Coordinates Administration Country Region Provence-Alpes-Côte dAzur Department Alpes-Maritimes (06) Intercommunality Community of Agglomeration Nice Côte dAzur Mayor Jacques Peyrat (UMP) (since 1995) Statistics Land area¹ 71. ...

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. A building code is a set of laws that specify how buildings should be constructed. ... Asheville City Hall. ... Categories: Stub | Architectural styles ...

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. The New Zealand Listener is a New Zealand magazine, published by APN Holdings (the publishers of The New Zealand Herald). ...

References

• Welch, Denis (4 February 2006). "Shake, Rattle & Roll". New Zealand Listener (Issue 3430): 29-30. 
• Earthquakes. History of Earthquakes in Hawke's Bay. Hawke's Bay Regional Council. Retrieved on 2006-02-20.
• Hawke's Bay Earthquake 3 February 1931. Hastings District Libraries. Retrieved on 2006-02-20.
• Bateman New Zealand Encyclopedia, edition 4 (1995). Article: Napier

The New Zealand Listener is a New Zealand magazine, published by APN Holdings (the publishers of The New Zealand Herald). ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 51st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 51st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• Art Deco Napier

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b} The exact number of deaths vary according to different sources; the New Zealand Listener article cited above gives 258 deaths, but the Bateman New Zealand Encyclopedia gives 256. The difference is due to two people 'missing' and presumed dead. Some articles add these two to the death toll, while others do not.