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Central Napier after the 1931 earthquake. The Hawkes Bay earthquake was New Zealand's worst natural disaster, causing the loss of 256 lives, and the destruction of all buildings in central Napier and Hastings. It had a magnitude of 7.8 on the Richter scale, with the epicentre 15km offshore from Napier. The earthquake lasted two and a half minutes, and was felt throughout all of New Zealand except Auckland and Otago. A major uplift was followed by resettling. Coastal areas were permanently lifted two metres leaving 40 sq.km of seabed as dry land. Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand must be obtained before reuse of this image. Copyright © 2005 TerraNature Trust. All rights reserved. |