Extent of shaking, Arthur’s Pass earthquake, 9 March 1929

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Level Three:

Felt indoors as similar to vibration from a passing truck; may not be recognised as an earthquake.
Level Four:

Generally noticed indoors as a jolt, or similar to vibration from heavy traffic; glassware and crockery rattle; liquids slightly disturbed; buildings may creak.
Level Five:

Generally felt indoors and outside; most sleepers wakened and a few people alarmed; small objects displaced and broken; a few windows cracked.
Level Six:

Felt by all; people and animals alarmed; difficulty in walking steadily; objects fall from shelves; unstable furniture tipped over; slight damage to some masonry buildings and weak chimneys damaged.
Level Seven:

General alarm; difficulty standing; car drivers may stop; unreprced stone and brick walls cracked, and some buildings damaged; unrestrained water cylinders may move and burst; small rockfalls and landslides.
Level Eight:

Alarm may approach panic; cars hard to steer; some buildings damaged, and weaker ones may collapse; small to moderate landslides; water generally disturbed.

Roll over isoseismal lines for information

The Modified Mercalli scale (from 1 to 12) measures earthquakes by the intensity of shaking observed. Reports from historical records and diaries have been used to compile this map, which shows the shaking from the Arthur’s Pass earthquake. The earthquake was widely felt in central New Zealand. Because no one was killed, this earthquake has been less widely reported than the Murchison earthquake, which struck a few months later.

Using this item

Te Ara – The Encyclopedia of New Zealand

Source: G. L. Downes, Atlas of isoseismal maps of New Zealand earthquakes. Lower Hutt: Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences, 1995.

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