✨ Earthquake Damage Report
while in the same house another chest of drawers standing with its end or length in the line of the shake, was left standing.
The depth, that is, from back to front, of the drawers which turned over, was 1ft. 7in., and the height 3ft. 7in., or rather more than double the depth.
Now with these simple facts before us, aided by a reference to the laws of gravity, which inform us that when the line of the centre of gravity of any body falls without the base, that body falls; we are enabled by finding the centre of gravity of a chest of drawers, and placing it so that its line falls outside the base, to define the angle to which vertical bodies were lifted from their horizontal position during the late earthquake, and that the angle appears to be about 22 degrees, as the diagrams below explain.
a Centre of gravity in a line with base.
b b Angle of 22 degrees to which they were lifted from their horizontal position, and at which they turned over.
a Centre of gravity.
b b End elevation of chest of drawers in their horizontal position.
This angle may be termed the angle of inclination, and from it we are able to give the proportion the height of a building ought to bear to its base. High buildings with narrow bases are unsafe.
We may lay it down as a general rule, that the height of a building should not exceed the width of the narrowest portion of its base. The bad effects of an inattention to this have been exhibited in the Council Chamber and Mr. M’Kay’s house at the Hutt, which were high buildings standing on a narrow base; at right angles to the axis of the oscillation, while the two long buildings which were
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Wellington Provincial Gazette 1855, No 14
✨ LLM interpretation of page content
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Earthquake Damage Report for Wellington
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🚨 Emergency Management6 October 1855
Earthquake, Damage, Wellington, Buildings, Chimneys, Foundations, Construction, Brickwork, Piles
- M’Kay (Mr), House damaged in earthquake