EARLY NEW ZEALAND QUAKE WARNINGS

Despite the frequently made statement that there was no reason to suspect that a violent earthquake might hit New Zealand’s second largest city,Christchurch , and cause massive destruction and loss of life , there was clear evidence such an event could take place. The 1971 UBD directory to Christchurch , a copy of which is in the Little Darwin Collection, states that in 1888 an earthquake shook down 30ft of the spire on the All Saints Cathedral in the centre of the city . A New Zealand TV report in the 1990s contained the warning that most of the old buildings in the city centre could be expected to collapse in the event of a major quake. The recent ABC TV documentary on the devastating earthquake raised questions about the construction industry in NZ, highlighting the collapse of the modern Canterbury TV building, which claimed so many lives .