Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
At 10.46am on 3 February 1931, the city was levelled by a catastrophic earthquake (7.9
on the Richter scale). Fatalities in Napier and nearby Hastings numbered 258. Napier sud-
denly found itself 40 sq km larger, as the earthquake heaved sections of what was once a
lagoon 2m above sea level (Napier's airport was once more 'port', less 'air'). A fevered
rebuilding program ensued, constructing one of the world's most uniformly art-deco cit-
ies.
