Wellington Anniversary

The 8.2 magnitude earthquake was felt throughout the country, including in Whanganui.

Fields walked to Whanganui the next day and recalled the landscape was full of cracks, with sand and mud brought up from below. In a letter to his sister, surveyor HC Fields wrote he had just gone to bed in Waitōtara and was reflecting on a day of strange weather and odd-acting animals when his house began shaking. When it stopped he went to check on his neighbours, but the aftershocks were too strong and he was thrown from the path, unable to stand. Mr Bates was relaxing in the Commercial Hotel when the building started shaking. The next day, Bates described the change in landscape. The whole region was governed by a provincial government until the introduction of local councils and a central government in 1876.