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Plates XV.—XVII.
The earthquake that took place on Saturday, the 1st September, 1888, was felt from Invercargill in the south to New Plymouth and Masterton in the north, a distance of about six hundred miles, but was most severe in the neighbourhood of the Hanmer Plains, which are nearer to the northern limit of the disturbed area than to its southern limit by about fifty miles. The shock commenced soon after 4 a.m., with a rumbling noise and slight shakes for a second or two, followed by the main shock, lasting from forty to sixty seconds, or even more in some places. Judging from my own feelings at Christ-church, I should say that the shock was a backward-and-forward oscillation that began gradually and as gradually died away after about forty-five seconds' duration, and that it was not accompanied by any sharp jerks. It was followed within the next quarter of an hour by two much smaller shocks, while other slight ones occurred continually until 5 or 6 a.m., these slighter shocks being only felt in the Amuri, at Boatman's, Reefton, and Westport. All Saturday, Sunday, and Monday the ground at the Hanmer Plains was quivering; with smarter shocks, felt on the west coast and at Christchurch, at about 3·55 a.m. and 4·25 p.m. on Saturday, at 11.15 a.m. on Sunday, and at 8·15 a.m. on Monday. At Westport small earthquakes occurred almost every day for a fortnight; at Reefton every day for nine days; while in the Hanmer Plains they were tolerably frequent up to the end of the month, with heavier shocks, felt on the west coast and at Christchurch, on the 9th and 28th September, and again on the 12th October. A slight shock was felt in the Amuri on the 28th October, and another at about 11 a.m. on the 13th
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November. It lasted for thirty or forty seconds, and was an easy, swaying kind of movement.
On Thursday, the 30th August (that is, before the main earthquake), a shock occurred at a few minutes past 10 p.m. which was felt from Hokitika and Westport, on the west of the island, to Christchurch and Kaikoura, on the east; but it was not severe at the Hanmer Plains, and the time observations indicate that it originated more to the south—probably in the Upper Hurunui. Another sharp earthquake took place at about a quarter past eight on the morning of the 23rd October; but this was more severely felt at Nelson, and the time-observations show that it certainly originated north of the Hanmer Plains and probably in the neighbourhood of Mount Owen. Still another but slighter shock on the 28th October was, according to Mr. A. McKay's report, felt more severely at Kaikoura than elsewhere. At any rate, none of these shocks originated from the same place as that of the 1st September.
At the time of the shock it wanted just five days to the new moon. The weather was fine and cold, a sharp frost being felt at Hanmer Plains. Over the north-west portion of the island, from Nelson to Hokitika and Bealey, the barometer was slowly rising; at Lyttelton it appears to have remained steadily at 30·45 from 9 a.m. on Friday to 9 a.m. on Saturday; while at Kaikoura it fell slightly, from 30·44 at 5 p.m. on Friday to 30·41 at 9 a.m. on Saturday. The self-registering barometer at the Agricultural College, Lincoln, was falling from 30·70 at 1.30 a.m. to 30·45 at 2 p.m. on Saturday, the height at the time of the earthquake being 30·65. The sky is reported as clear and star-lit. The air was nearly calm in the interior, and with a slight easterly breeze on both coasts, changing to north-west at Bealey. The humidity of the atmosphere at 9 a.m. on Saturday is given at 92 at Nelson, 63 at Bealey, and 41 at Tophouse in the Upper Wairau. The shock, therefore, appears to have been quite unconnected with the weather or with the position of the moon.