Stories
The Big One
While it’s easy to be blasé about the prospect of future earthquakes, a look back to Wellington’s colonial beginnings puts the potential for disaster into sharp relief. On 23 January 1855 at 9.11pm the small town of Wellington (population about 6,000) was shaken off its foundations by a violent and terrifying earthquake.
At magnitude 8.2, the ‘quake was felt in most parts of New Zealand. There was extensive damage to property throughout the central region of the country, from Wanganui to Kaikoura.
At least five people were killed by collapsing buildings and landslides.
The earthquake produced a tsunami over 10 metres high and in the harbour, a seiche (a sloshing motion) generated a wave about a metre high that flooded low-lying areas. Buildings along Lambton Quay were inundated and their contents washed out.
The earthquake altered the landscape considerably. Wellington Harbour was raised, and from the Wairarapa to west of Wellington there was a new strip of coastal land.
Painting by CE Gold of a landslip near Wellington caused by the 1855 earthquake. (Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand, must be obtained before any re-use of this image)
After the ‘quake locals were very concerned about the effect of the disaster on the future prospects of the town.
In the end, efforts to ensure people were not put off Wellington by the 1855 and earlier earthquakes (a very large earthquake had struck in 1848) were successful with the town becoming New Zealand’s capital in 1865.
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