Quake stirs memories

The Christchurch earthquake on Saturday has stirred up vivid memories of the 1968 Inangahua earthquake for older West Coasters — the noise, the damage and the cow that was swallowed up whole.

Inangahua resident Jim O’Regan said it hit like a mighty blast.
“It was so sudden. I didn’t have time to be afraid because I was pushed right into it,” Mr O’Regan recalled this morning.
“Our house came off its piles. There was lots of damage around the farm, water supply, crockery, chimney and I remember there were a lot of aftershocks, which carried on for four or so days.
“It was violent and there were explosions in the hills that sounded like 25-pounders going off. Roads were smashed, bridge approaches down and people were evacuated from the Inangahua township.”
Warren Inwood remembered being woken by an incredible roar.
“The initial shock did the damage. The bed was flung across the floor, the chimneys crashed through the roof and straight through the floor. The house actually broke in three bits.
“I do remember after the initial shake died down you could hear the slips coming down the hills, crashing trees and rocks — and they stopped just 100m from our house.
“It was pitch dark at the time and eventually all residents gathered by the hotel at the junction at Inangahua, and were passing around a bottle of whisky and brandy,” Mr Inwood, who still lives at Inangahua, said.
“There was immense damage everywhere. The first day, the ground never stopped shaking and the aftershocks continued a long time after.”
Another Inangahua resident, Cathy Swaine, said there was liquefaction, just as occurred with the Christchurch earthquake on Saturday.
The sand “boiled”, forming quicksand and at New Creek the ground opened up and swallowed a cow: “The cow was up to its neck and the ground closed again.”
Reefton old-timer Lew Kearns said he woke to a “real loud noise and rumbling, and the whole place just started shaking violently”.
“Our home escaped damage but where I was working, at Broadway Supplies, there were broken jars, spices and sauce, contents everywhere.
“All the shops in the street suffered the same.”