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Story: Historic earthquakes

The Mātakitaki landslide

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The Mātakitaki landslide

The upper storey was all that remained of the Morel homestead in the Mātakitaki valley, after it was overwhelmed by a landslide. Charles Morel and his wife ran ahead of the landslide – a moving slurry of water, clay, rocks and the wreckage of their house – but they tripped and fell. Charles Morel died, but his wife was found near the edge of the slip and rescued by a neighbour.

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Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference:  PAColl-8481

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Eileen McSaveney, Historic earthquakes – The 1929 Arthur’s Pass and Murchison earthquakes, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/4501/the-matakitaki-landslide (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Eileen McSaveney, published 2 March 2009, updated 1 November 2017.