1987: Edgecumbe

March 2, 2022

By AHNZ

Today in New Zealand history, 2 March, 1987, at 1:43pm, a mighty 6.3 earthquake shook Edgecumbe. According to historian Matthew Wright the quake caught the young generation off-guard. Big quakes like this are regular in New Zealand but not so regular within the scope of single generation’s focus. To appreciate how shaky our ground is requires an historian’s gaze or else a long life. I wonder if Wright would be willing to accept his logic when it is applied to the 2020 Covid Pandemic? The Millennial Generation reacted with extreme measures and prolonged panic as if facing an unprecedented outbreak which previous New Zealanders simply walked off with appropriate measures. Our politicians capitalised on the naive younger generations by inflating the currency and flexing emergency powers last seen during an industrial civil war.

A “5.2 foreshock preceded the main event by seven minutes enabling evacuation and thereby preventing loss of life…the ground level at this site dropped 1.5-2 metres during and immediately after the main event….This piece of steel beam work was retrieved during reconstruction and erected as a monument to the forces of nature and the determination of the local population to endure and prosper.” – Ref. 1992 Monument near the town’s bridge over the Rangitaiki River.

“To the youth generation of the 1980’s ‘yuppie’ era, often unaware of the science emerging at the same time, earthquakes were a quick rattle and shake; a moment of excitement that was soon over with nothing more, perhaps, than a few ripples in their chocolate latte to show for it… The perception was generational, coming on the back of the fact that there had been no large quakes for some time. Edgecumbe, in 1987, was an exception.” – Living on Shaky Ground, Matthew Wright (2014)

“As before, the target population will be subdued and the police/military utilised to make damn sure of it. When the time is right there will be another electoral landslide victory for the Prime Minister who acts like the Big Chief in a time of (real or imagined) crisis. Lockout or Lockdown, history is indeed repeating.” – 1951: Lock Out vs Lock Down, AHNZ (2020)

A couple years or so ago the town still had an interesting improvised barn-mall called Riverslea with its own supermarket. Shortly after my visit (2017) the town flooded very badly. The mall was shut down when I visited in 2019. Hard times for the little town despite their determination from 30 years previous to prosper. Unsure if this was inevitable or if the quake, or the Victimhood reaction to it, caused the once proud town to decline. I hope they get their barn-mall back up and running or maybe they already have?

According to an information panel during my 2017 visit, the Riverslea complex was created at a cost of $8,000,000 a year after the quake. At its opening the shaken population was comforted by a permed Simon Prast (Gloss) and John Hawkesby (Mike Hosking’s Father-in-law) and Alan Dale (Neighbours’ ‘Jim’, and Nick Fury’s boss from The Avengers.) It’s weird to think of celebrities pitching in to help people feel better these days but that was 1988, a more innocent time. (When I was a kid even someone showing up at the mall with a Mickey Mouse or Donald Duck costume was a really big deal.)

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Image ref. Locomotive tipped side-on amidst buckled tracks after the Edgecumbe quake. Auckland Fire Brigades Museum & Historical Society inc., Facebook (2020)

Image ref. AHNZ Archive (2017)

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