New stories emerge from Napier's 1931 quake

Clarendon Hotel and Shakespeare Road (Archives NZ)
Clarendon Hotel and Shakespeare Road (Archives NZ)

Today marks the 85th anniversary of one of New Zealand's biggest natural disasters.

On the morning of February 3, 1931 the Hawke's Bay region was shaken by a massive magnitude 7.8 earthquake.

According to the US Geological Survey, that makes the Hawkes Bay quake 31 times larger and 177 times stronger than the 6.3 magnitude quake that hit Christchurch in 2011.

Today the family history research website, Ancestry.com, has released some new facts about the disaster including the names and stories of some newly discovered victims.

After compiling all of the available information of the victims, Ancestry.com believes the death toll is actually lower than the historically reported 256 figure.

Some people thought to be victims have been removed from the list, such as Lilian Hendra who actually died of tuberculosis in Palmerston North.

But it's the stories of the newly identified victims that shines more light on the tragedy of the event.

William Michael Baker was a visitor from the UK.  His last letter to his family said he was on his way to Napier.  It's now believed he was one of the many unidentifiable victims killed when the Napier Masonic Hotel collapsed.  His family still run a post-graduate scholarship in his name at Bristol University.

There were also details about victims who died many years later as a result of the earthquake.

Lorna Williamson only survived the quake because her father jumped on top of her to protect her from falling debris. Her father was killed instantly and Lorna was trapped for six hours.  She was made a quadriplegic and died 14 years later.

Earlier this week Civil Defence Minister Nikki Kaye attended an afternoon tea with some of the survivors of the quake.

Newshub.