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Kōrero: Hawke’s Bay region

‘The Hawke’s Bay disaster’

Video file

Most of central Napier was destroyed when a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck on 3 February 1931. Many buildings that survived the quake (mainly wooden ones) were lost in the subsequent fire, which started when chemists’ bunsen burners were upset. This film was made the day after the earthquake. The town has the appearance of a war zone.

Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi

Archives New Zealand - Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga

Reference: The Hawkes Bay Disaster. National Film Unit, 1965

Permission of Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga must be obtained before any re-use of this material.

Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārang

Kerryn Pollock, Hawke’s Bay region – 20th-century developments, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/video/23939/the-hawkes-bay-disaster (accessed 4 June 2026).

He kōrero nā Kerryn Pollock, i tāngia i te 22 January 2010, updated 1 July 2015.