nā Eileen McSaveney
In Māori tradition Rūaumoko, god of earthquakes, caused rumblings and shaking as he walked about, and European arrivals soon experienced the frightening power of the land they hoped to settle. Since 1840 several major quakes have disrupted towns and cities, and caused injury and death. The worst was in Hawke’s Bay in 1931: it claimed 258 lives and altered the landscape forever. But it also led to world-class design and construction standards – and to a better understanding of the hazards facing communities in a geological danger zone.
Te āhua nui: Fireman in the wreckage of the Napier earthquake
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