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On 3 February 1931, New Zealand’s deadliest earthquake devastated the cities of Napier and Hastings, Hawke’s Bay. At least 256 people died in the magnitude 7.8 earthquake: 161 in Napier, 93 in Hastings, and two in Wairoa. Many thousands more required medical treatment.
At 10.47am on 3 February 1931, a violent shock, followed closely by a second, rocked Hawke’s Bay for almost three minutes. A tanker at sea felt a violent vibration, and the seamen on board looked to the shore to see Napier covered by a cloud of rising dust.
The HMS Veronica had just tied up in Napier’s inner harbour when the earthquake hit. Captain Morgan at first thought there had been an explosion on board, but then saw the wharf twisting, and beyond it houses and other buildings crumpling to the ground. Dust rose in clouds from the shattered buildings, making it difficult for people to breathe, and huge splits in the roads appeared.
Panic-stricken, people ran down to the beaches where they hoped to be safe. As the water in the bay receded with the rising of the land, many thought that a tsunami was on the way, but this was not the case.
The first victims of the earthquake were people who ran out to the street and were struck by falling masonry, as the stone decorations on many of the buildings crashed to the ground. Many were killed instantly when buildings collapsed on them, but others were buried in the rubble. Most of the deaths were in the city centres.
Attempts to rescue the trapped and injured began almost at once. The local people were helped by sailors from the HMS Veronica. Some would-be rescuers were killed when buildings collapsed further, or more earthquake tremors struck.
At the central fire station in Napier the engines were covered in debris from the destroyed brigade building, and were unable to be used when fires broke out in the city centre soon after the earthquake. In Napier the gas supply had been shut off three minutes after the first tremor, and the risk of fire from electrical faults was avoided by fuses on the street power poles which blew out. Fires were started in three chemist shops where a gas jet was kept burning to melt the wax used to seal prescriptions. The shops also had a lot of flammable materials, such as different types of oil.
Water for fighting fires ran out as pipes cracked and broke underground, and fighting the fires became impossible. Rescuers fought to bring out the trapped and injured victims from the rubble before the fires reached them, but many people died in the fires. Because human lives were the first priority, many valuable records and goods were lost in the blaze. The weather had been fine, after many hot dry days. A wind blew up not long after the earthquake, and spread the fires further. The fires burned in Napier for 36 hours before finally dying out.
The nurses’ home in Napier, built only a year before, collapsed, killing twelve of the nurses. A rest home was destroyed and 14 elderly men who lived there were killed. The Napier Boy’s High School assembly hall was severely damaged, but fortunately all of the boys had left the building. However, at Napier Technical College ten boys and two teachers died when a room collapsed on them.
The courtroom became the morgue where bodies were laid out to be identified by relatives. Emergency hospitals were set up, but the doctors and nurses were limited in what they could do to help the injured because of a lack of medical supplies.
Back-up medical teams were sent from Auckland on board Navy ships, and from Wellington by train. The main roads in both Napier and Hastings were blocked by mountains of rubble, while landslides caused more damage in the hilly parts of both areas. In Napier, houses built on the hill-side suffered a lot of damage, especially those that had two storeys. Most of the brick and stone buildings of Napier were destroyed and many wooden buildings wrecked.
In Hastings, 20 kilometres away, brick buildings and chimneys also collapsed. The water supplies in both cities were no longer working. The tram tracks in Napier were twisted out of place. As power was lost, trams came to a halt all over Napier. When the city was rebuilt, the tram lines were not restored.
One 90-year-old man was buried in the earthquake rubble, but was finally dug out alive, three days later. In Hastings almost 200 buildings were destroyed. The most deaths were in a department store, but there were also many who died in the public library. Hastings also suffered from fires and the firefighters had problems with their water supply, but the spread of the fire was not as great as in Napier. Source: Christchurch City Libraries: Hawke's Bay earthquake
Update: 16 April 2019 17 new victims of 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake discovered during university study Researchers have discovered 17 new victims of the 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake, but in a strange twist they have also found 17 victims who weren't actually victims – meaning the disaster's official death toll remains at 256.
256 people died (161 in Napier, 93 in Hastings, two in Wairoa): Please note: this list needs to be updated with the new information found in April 2019 - there is also a page here https://www.familytreecircles.com/hawkes-bay-1931-the-site-from-te-.... It is hoped that one day each person will be correctly identified and have their own Geni profile linked back to this project.
- ALEXANDER Thomas Wilson
- ALLAN Sylvia Margaret Fordie (Miss)
- ALLOWAY Ivy Patricia (Miss)
- ANISY Antonio (Bodey)
- ARROWSMITH Margaret (Mrs) (née THEILE)
- ASHWELL Cecil George
- ASHWORTH Ellen (Mrs) (née McCARTER)
- ATKINSON Thomas Henry
- AVERILL Anne Adele(Miss)
- BAKER William Michael Hiatt
- BARRETT Sarah Naomi (Mrs) (BAKER née ATKINS)
- BARRY Edith Mary Maud (Mrs) (née CREAGH)
- BARTLE William Morley
- BARTLETT Mary Hodge (Mrs) (née CALDOW)
- BENNETT Mary Leah (Miss)
- BERRY Myra George (Mrs) (née BARTLETT)
- BICKERSTAFF Louisa Maud (Lou) (Mrs) (née BURGESS)
- BISSON Anna (Mrs) (née DONS)
- BLACKBURN Mary Ann/e (Mrs) (née LANE)
- BOHAN Ellen (Mrs) (née SULLIVAN)
- BOHAN Kathleen (Miss)
- BONNOR Alfred John (Alf)
- BOWEN Frederick Edward
- BOYD Frances Mary (Mrs) (née FOY)
- BOYLE Thomas John (Reverend Father)
- BRACE Herbert Henry
- BRANDON Mary Eileen (Miss)
- BROOKER Henry
- BROWN Gilbert
- BROWN Raymond Kenneth Broburg (Ray)
- BRYSON Jane (Miss)
- BRYSON Ruth (Miss)
- BUCK Maria Teresa (Mabel) (Miss)
- BURKIN Stephen
- BURROW Clarice Margaret (Miss)
- BUTLER Gwendoline Ethel (Gwen) (Miss)
- CAMBRIDGE Olive Gwendoline (Miss)
- CAMERON William Ritchie
- CANHAM John Eugene
- CARMODY Vincent De Paul
- CHAPMAN Mary Hannah (Mrs)
- CLEARY Gladys Alma (Miss)
- COCKERILL Emma Clara (Mrs) (OSBORNE nee TURNER)
- COLE Ethel Rose (Mrs) (née BARNES)
- COLE Peter Henry
- COLE William Edwin Francis (Billy)
- COLEBOURNE John Henry
- COLLINS Mary (Mrs)
- COLTON Edward
- COOK Thomas
- COUPER Phillipa Maud (Miss)
- CRADOCK Christina (Mrs) (née GRANT)
- CRAWFORD John Herbert
- CUDDIHY Michael
- DALLEY Elizabeth Anne (Mrs) (née CHEYNE)
- DALLISON Eleanor (Miss)
- DAVIDSON John Stewart
- DENNETT George Frederick
- DENNETT Herbert Arthur
- DEVONPORT Alexander Roy
- DEWES Melita (Meta) (Miss)
- DIMOND Thomas Henry
- DOOGAN James Hannan
- DRUMMOND Charles Gordon
- DUNN Aileen Frances (Miss)
- DUNN Mary Elizabeth (Mrs) (née DEVLIN)
- DWYER John
- DYER Herbert (Bert)
- ELLIS Ada Mima Hood (Mrs) (née SAVAGE)
- ELLIS Olive Frances (Mrs) (née BURR)
- ELLISON Stanley George
- ELTRIDGE Martha Ann (Mrs (née AYRES)
- ENGLAND Laura (Mrs) (née AUSTIN)
- EVANS David
- EVERS-SWINDELL Arthur Wilfred Denys
- FARMERY Gladys Lilian (Miss)
- FRASER James Douglas
- FREDSBERG Rex Ernest
- FREEDMAN Derek
- FREW Christina (Mrs) (née NEILSON)
- GANNAWAY Norman Baxter
- GIGG Albert James
- GILHOOLY Thomas
- GILL Thomas Henry
- GOLDFINCH Leonard Henry
- GONDRINGER Bernard Joseph (Father)
- GOODALL Albert Edward
- GOODALL Annie May
- GRAHAM Raymond Stanley (Ray)
- GRANT Frederick James
- GRANT Gordon Hill
- GREATBATCH Eli Thomas
- GRUDNOFF Mina (Miss)
- HANSEN Edward Peter
- HARRIS Doreen Myra
- HARRISON Valentine Joseph
- HAWKINS Rita May
- HAXTON Doris Emma (Miss)
- HAXTON Sabina May (Miss)
- HAYNES Jane (Mrs)
- HEATH Clifford James Colvin
- HEIGHWAY James Woodford
- HENEY Cyril Herbert
- HINDMARSH SheilaWestwood (Mrs) (née McLEOD)
- HOLLAND Edmond Alfred (also known as Edmund, Edward)
- HONG Young Nan
- HOOKINGS Eliza Jane (Mrs) (née FERRIS)
- HOOPER Brian
- HORSLEY Constance Emily (Mrs) (née CLARKE)
- HOULAHAN Eleanor May (Miss) (also known as Elinor)
- HOWARD Ernest Edward
- HUNT William James
- INSULL Helen Caroline Marjory
- JEFFARES Elizabeth (Mrs) (née O'Hara)
- JENKINS Lily (Miss)
- JENSEN Agnes Mary (Mrs) (née WOODROW)
- JOHNSON Crawford Benjamin
- JOHNSON Jack William
- JOHNSON William George (Bill)
- JOHNSTONE Bridget Mary (Mrs) (née DOOLEY)
- JONES Ernest Cecil
- JONES Grace Brandon (Miss)
- KEDDELL Joan Grace (Miss)
- KELLY Henrietta Lavinia (Miss)
- KENNEDY Arthur Angus
- KEY Elsie Gertrude (Miss)
- KIRKPATRICK Mary Ann (Mrs) (née HICKEY)
- KITCHING Thomas Henry
- KITSON Dennis Francis
- KNOTT Geoffrey Cole
- KYLE Leo Alphonso
- LAMBERT Beatrice Elizabeth (Mrs) (née ALLEN)
- LAUERSEN Mary Bosworth (Mrs) (née ROBERTSON)
- LEANING John England
- LENIHAN Mary Josephine (Mrs)
- LEVERETT Rose Eileen (Miss)
- LEWIS Percival Hope
- LINCOLN Eric Charles Earl
- LOVE William Charles
- LUNN Walter George
- MACLEAN Dorothy (Miss)
- MACLENNAN John Roderick (Roy)
- MANGOS Leonard Joseph
- MAYE Thomas John
- McARTHUR Frederick Campbell
- McCARTHY Joseph Henry
- McDONALD Ellen Frances (Mrs) (née THOMPSON)
- McDONALD John Spencer (Jock)
- McENERY Ellen Margaret (Nellie) Miss
- McKEE Mary May (Molly) (Miss)
- McKENZIE John
- McLEAN Mary Hannah (May) (Miss)
- McLEOD Edith Mary (Mrs) (née HORRELL)
- McLEOD Mary Alice (Mrs) (née CASTLE)
- McMILLAN Irvine Harold
- MEEK Thomas
- MENZIES Myra Evelyn (Miss)
- MITCHELL Ruth (Sister)
- MORUNGA Ramu Maru (Mrs)
- MORUNGA Takatoroa Mareo
- MURCOTT Doris Mabel (Miss)
- MURRAY Dina Jane (Miss)
- MURRAY Wilhelmina Mary (Mena) (Mrs) (née McKAY)
- NAPIER John Thomas
- NUTTALL Elsie Ella (Miss)
- OGDEN Henry
- OGILVIE Bertram Verdun
- O'MALLEY Rita Gwendoline (Mrs) (née MATTHEWS)
- O'NEILL Margaret Teresa (Miss)
- ORR Evelyn Doris (Miss)
- ORR Susan Catherine (Mrs) (née McGLONE)
- OTTER Alice Martha (Mrs) (née PRICE)
- PARKINSON Ronald Irvine
- PATMAN Lucy Flora (Mrs) (née HAYTER)
- PAUL Patricia (Miss)
- PEARSON Kathleen Irene (Mrs) (née BALLARD)
- PLANK George
- POINTON Edwin (Ted)
- POLLOCK William Archibald (Billy)
- PRATER Thomas
- PUDDLE Elizabeth (Mrs) (née WATTON)*
- RAE John
- RAFTER Edward Ngaio
- RATTRAY Alexander Edward
- REDWOOD Cecily Theresa Mary (Miss)
- REID George
- RHODES Lloyd
- ROBERTSON Raymond Claude
- RODGERS Helena
- ROLLS Grace Ellen (Miss)
- ROSS John Alexander
- RUNDLE Ethel Mary Galloway (Mrs) (née HOOKINGS)
- RUSS Rodney Francis
- RYAN Arthur Lever
- RYAN Thomas Michael
- SAUNDERS James
- SCHMOLL Ernest George
- SEWELL Marguerite Viola (Miss)
- SHACKELFORD Leonard William
- SHIRLEY John Stanley (Jack)
- SINDEN Elizabeth Anne (Eliza) (Mrs) (née RALLINSHAW)
- SKELTON Henry
- SKELTON Mary (Minnie May) (Mrs)
- SKINNER Charles
- SMITH Christina (Mrs)
- SMITH Ellen (Mrs)
- SMITH Louis Ormond
- SPENCE Shona Eileen (Miss)
- STAINES Winifred Fena (Miss)
- STEAD Irvine Thomas
- STEER Mabel Annie (Miss)
- STEPHENSON George Gabriel
- STEVENS John Ascott (Jack)
- STEVENSON James
- STEVENSON William Alexander
- STEWART Daniel
- STONE Lucy Mildred (Miss)
- SYMES George Oliver - 22-year-old from Hastings.
- TAGGART William Thomas Andrew
- TAYLOR Joyce Elizabeth (Miss)
- THOMPSON Frances Jane (Mrs) (née HALL)
- THOMPSON Julia Carr (Miss) (also known as Ivy)
- THORNE-GEORGE Nancy (Miss)
- TONKIN Horace John
- TRESTON Malcom Valentine
- TRIPNEY Annie Gordon Ogilvie (Mrs) (née OGILVIE)
- TRIPNEY David
- TURNER Leona (Mrs)
- VENABLES Stanley George
- VERCOE Richard Collins (Dick)
- VOICE Ellen (Mrs) (née McCORKINDALE)
- WALKER Alexander Graham
- WALKER Herbert
- WALKER Samuel
- WALKER Walter Zealand
- WALSH Mary Deeley (Molly) (Sister Ignatius)
- WALSHE Ada May (Mrs) (née OXENHAM)
- WATSON Andrew
- WATSON John Henry
- WATSON Mary McLeod (Mrs) (née ROSS)
- WEBSTER Francis Henry
- WELLS Alice Mary (Miss) (also known as Trilby, Molly)
- WELLS Emily Elizabeth Edith (Mrs) (née ELLIOTT)
- WHYTE Patricia (Patsy) (Miss)
- WILLIAMS Eileen May (Miss)
- WILLIAMS Lydia Catherine (Miss) (Kate)
- WILLIAMSON Lorna Katherine (Miss)
- WILLIAMSON Reginald James Richard
- WILSON Arthur
- WOOD Sybil Florence (Miss)
- WRIGHT Percy
- YING Lim
- YOUNG Howard Vincent (Lofty)