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Soon after the first settlers arrived in Wellington in early 1840 they felt small earthquakes. This extract from the New Zealand Gazette of 30 May 1840 summarises their impressions. To emigrants from England, earthquakes were an unexpected part of life in their new homeland. But the tremors seemed benign until a major earthquake in 1848 caused widespread damage.
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
National Library of New Zealand, Papers Past
Reference: New Zealand Gazette, 30 May 1840, p. 2
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