2006 Hawke's Bay Earthquake

75th Anniversary of the Hawke's Bay Earthquake.

          The 1931 Hawke's Bay Earthquake, also known as the Napier Earthquake, occurred in New Zealand at 10:47 am on Tuesday 3 February 1931, killing 256 and devastating the Hawke's Bay region. It remains New Zealand's deadliest natural disaster. Centred 15 km north of Napier, it lasted for two and a half minutes and measured magnitude 7.8 Ms (magnitude 7.9 Mw). There were 525 aftershocks recorded in the following two weeks. The main shock could be felt through much of the southern half of the North Island.
         In 2006, 75 years after the main earthquake, NZ Post issued this set of stamps remembering this event in New Zealand's History. The stamps appeared in their own sheet of 20 stamps, each depicting some aspect of the earthquake and its effects on the people of the region. What I like about this set is that when put the stamps together they tell the story of this event.
         That is what I intend to do with this post. First, we will view the whole sheet of 20 stamps then I will display each stamp separately and show you the part it plays in the story.


The Whole Sheet.
        Below is the whole set in its full sheet of 20 stamps. Most photography was black and white so they were limited in what colours they could use. I like the way they printed the single colour images in a variety of colours. It has created an interesting sheet which makes you want to dig deeper to find out more. 
       Of course, the issue date was the 3rd Feb 2006, 75 years to the day after the original earthquake. The 20 stamps were issued in this special sheet and most were sold as complete sets. There was also a miniature sheet booklet containing seven miniature sheets.

The Stamps.

Napier Before the Earthquake.
          Up until 1931 the Hawkes Bay region had been experiencing good growth as farming and agriculture developed throughout the area. The young city of Napier with its port was the main outlet for produce from the area although more recently Hawkes Bay had been connected to the rest of New Zealand via train and ever improving roads.

Then at 10:47 am on Tuesday 3 February 1931,
the earthquake hit!
  

Aerial View of the Devastation.
        Nearly all buildings in the central areas of Napier and Hastings were levelled with the city being said to have been wiped off the map. The 256 death toll included 161 people in Napier, 93 in nearby Hastings, and two in Wairoa. Thousands more were injured, with over 400 hospitalised.
        The local landscape changed dramatically, with the coastal areas around Napier being lifted by around two metres. The most noticeable land change was the uplifting of some 40 km² of sea-bed to become dry land. This included Ahuriri Lagoon, which was lifted more than 2.7 metres and resulted in draining 2230 hectares of the lagoon. Today, this area is the location of Hawkes Bay Airport, housing and industrial developments and farmland.


Fire Service.
          Within minutes fire broke out in a chemist shop in Hastings Street, Napier. The fire brigade almost had the first fire under control when the second broke out in a shop at the back of the Masonic Hotel. The hotel was quickly engulfed in flames. The wind at this point also picked up strength and began blowing from the east, pushing the fires back over the city.
          With water mains broken the brigade was unable to save many buildings. Pumping water from Clive Square they were able to stop the fires spreading south but only a few buildings in the central Napier area survived. Some which had withstood the earthquake now would be gutted by fire. Trapped people had to be left to burn as people were unable to free them in time. By Wednesday morning the main fires were out but the ruins still smouldered for several days.
          In nearby Hastings and other smaller towns, the fires had been brought under control much quicker and no lives were lost there directly to fire.


 
HMS Veronica - Sailors.
         The Royal Navy ship HMS Veronica was in port at the time. Within minutes of the shock, the Veronica had sent radio messages asking for help. The sailors were sent ashore to join survivors to fight the fires, rescuing trapped people and helping give them medical treatment. The crew from two cargo ships, the Northumberland and Taranaki, also joined the rescue work. 
         Two cruisers, HMS Diomede and HMS Dunedin, were dispatched from Auckland that afternoon with food, tents, medicine, blankets, and a team of doctors and nurses. The cruisers sailed at high speed overnight, arrived on 4 February and provided valuable assistance in all areas until their departure on 11 February.


   
   Red Cross.                                                                              Rescue Services.
        In the hours and days after the earthquake, the Red Cross and other Rescue Services play important roles in rescuing and assisting injured people. As time moved on this would turn more to providing for people's survival needs but in those first few hours, the main focus had to be, rescue and then providing for those hurt.


Devastation.
         One of the major problems facing those involved in the rescue and assisting people was the damage done to infrastructure. Roads were damaged, blocked and impassable. Water supply, power supply were gone and now people began looking around and realising the total devastation of their city.
         This is the period of shock when people begin wondering:- "Where do we go from here?" "How do we fix everything again."
          Efforts had to be made at rebuilding and repairing essential services while assistance of people continued. The first, effort was the clearing of roads so people and services could move to where they were needed.    


   
    Medical Services.                                                      Emergency Mail Flights.
        By now word had got to the rest of New Zealand and the country began to respond. Better medical services were set up to assist and replaced the overstretched emergency services. Mail came in and out by air as roads and railways were still being repaired. In that early phase, most supplies came either by air, but mainly via ships.

  
             Refugees.                                                 Emergency Accommodation.
         People who had lost their homes, who had lost everything, had to be assisted. Many were on the move, taking what they could. They were seeking food, shelter, somewhere to go. Most were in shock, not knowing what to do, where to go, but they knew they couldn't stay where they were.
         Emergency accommodation such as this tent town above right was set up by the army and other services. This gave people shelter and food. Not much, but at least it was a start.

   
Makeshift Cooking Facilities.                                                        Community Spirit.
         Part of this involved the cooking facilities seen on the left. People had to eat, they needed food, so whatever was at hand was used. People worked together and a strong community spirit developed where those who could, would help those around them in need.

Refugees Evacuated by Train.
         Once train services were re-established supplies could be quickly brought in by rail and refugees evacuated the same way. Many people, having lost homes and jobs, left the area to settle in other parts of New Zealand. Some would return once the rebuilding began but many others would choose never to return.


Building Industry.
         Once the immediate effects of the earthquake had been dealt with, thought turned to the future. The city had changed, new land had appeared, entire areas had been reduced to rubble, there was a chance to rebuild the city better than it was before. Local and central Government became involved in the planning of new services and infrastructure. Roads were repaired, power and water restored and people began to return. Soon sites were being cleared and new buildings began to appear. The rebuilding was underway.

 
A New Art Deco City.                                                                          Celebrations.
         Now at that time, between the two World Wars, Art Deco architecture was very popular and was considered to be very modern. Napier having been totally destroyed, could take full advantage of this. Almost the entire city centre was rebuilt in that style. Much of Hastings was also rebuilt with Art Deco style buildings. 1999 Art Deco Buildings.
         The earthquake prompted a thorough review of New Zealand building codes, which were found to be totally inadequate. Many buildings built during the 1930s and 1940s are heavily reinforced, although more recent research and the results of the Christchurch Earthquakes of 2011 has revealed even this was not enough and further strengthening techniques have been developed. Building regulations established as a result of the Napier Earthquake event mean that to this day, there are very few buildings in Hawke's Bay taller than five stories.
         Ten years after the earthquake most of the city had been rebuilt and it was said: "Napier today is a far lovelier city than it was before".

Hawke's Bay Region Today.
         Today Napier and its surrounding areas have completely recovered and its hard to see any sign of the earthquake. It is a modern, prosperous region, with industries in agriculture, and forestry.  What is very obvious, is the city centre still retains many of those Art Deco buildings, built immediately after the earthquake. As most of the rebuilding of the region took place in the 1930s when Art Deco was fashionable, Hawke's Bay architecture is regarded today as being one of the finest collections of Art Deco in the world.


         The town of Napier, New Zealand, was rebuilt in the art deco style after being largely razed by the Hawke's Bay earthquake of 3 February 1931 and is the world's most consistently art deco city. Although a few art deco buildings were replaced with contemporary structures during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, most of the centre remained intact long enough to become recognized as architecturally unique, and from the 1990s onwards had been protected and restored. As of 2007, Napier has been nominated for UNESCO World Heritage Site status, the first cultural site in New Zealand to be nominated. According to the World Heritage Trust, when Napier is compared to the other cites noted for their art deco architecture, such as Miami Beach, Santa Barbara, Bandung in Indonesia (planned originally as the future capital of Java), and Asmara in Eritrea (built by the Italians as a model colonial city), "none... surpass Napier in style and coherence.
        Hastings was also rebuilt in art deco style after the 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake, and many fine art deco buildings survive.
                                                                                                                                          (Wikipedia.)

Set of two first day covers with gummed stamps affixed. Cancelled on the first day of issue.

Collectable booklet containing a range of miniature sheets and further information on the stamp issue.


Technical Information.
Date of issue: 3 February 2006.
The number of stamps: 20.
Denominations and designs: 20 designs, one denomination 45c.
Stamps and first day covers designed: CommArts Design, Wellington.
Printer and process: Southern Colour Print, New Zealand by offset lithography.
The number of colours: Four process colours plus one special buff.
Stamp size and format: 40mm x 30mm.
Paper Type: Tullis Russell 104gsm red phosphor gum stamp paper.
The number of stamps per sheet: 20.
Perforation gauge: 14.
Special blocks: Plate/imprint blocks, A and B barcode, logo and value blocks could be obtained by purchasing one sheet of 20 stamps.
Period of sale: These stamps remained on sale until 2 February 2007.


Some of the images in this post were used with permission from the illustrated catalogue of StampsNZ
You can visit their website and Online Catalogue at, http://stampsnz.com/

Information & images for this post came from.