Notes

Contents: 1. The big one: the Wellington earthquake, 1855 -- 2. Of shipwrecks and flooding: the great storm, 1868 -- 3. No easy escape: the Café Chantant fire, 1879 -- 4. Blown off the tracks: the Rimutaka rail accident, 1880 -- 5. The big bang: the Tarawera eruption, 1886 -- 6. The 'New Zealand death': the Motu River canoe sinking, 1900 -- 7. Things that go bang in the night: the Upper Hutt explosion, 1914 -- 8. A pall of gloom: Ralph's Mine disaster, 1914 -- 9. Without a trace: the White Island explosion, 1914 -- 10. For as far as the eye could see: the Raetihi bushfire, 1918 -- 11. But for a boulder: the Ongarue rail accident, 1923 -- 12. Bad vibrations: the Napier earthquake, 1931 -- 13. A wall of water: the Kopuawhara flash flood, 1938 -- 14. Out of mind, out of sight: the Seacliff fire, 1942 -- 15. Too much speed: the Hyde rail accident, 1943 -- 16. The secret crash: the crash of USAF Liberator at Whenuapai, 1943 -- 17. Out of a black sky: the Frankton tornado, 1948 -- 18. A rogue wave: the sinking of the Ranui, 1950 -- 19. Hollow victory: Wellington to Lyttelton yachting tragedy, 1951 -- 20. Because it was there: the Mount Egmont climbing accident, 1953 -- 21. The tragedy of the Royal Mustangs: the crash of two formation fighters, 1953 -- 22. The weeping waters: the Tangiwai rail disaster, 1953 -- 23. Battling the 'Kaimai breeze': the Kaimai air accident, 1963 -- 24. Any port in a storm: the sinking of the Wahine, 1968 -- 25. Blind faith: the Erebus air accident, 1979 -- 26. A trio of tragedies: the Marlborough air accidents, 1985, 1986, 1996 -- 27. 'She'll be right': the Cave Creek platform collapse, 1995 -- 28. Sure to rise: Tongariro canyoning tragedy, 2008 -- 29. Cold comfort at the coalface: the Pike River Mine explosion, 2010 -- 30. On shaky ground: the Christchurch earthquake, 2011 -- 31. Sky high: the Carterton air balloon tragedy, 2012 Summary: A full train plunges into a raging river at Tangiwai; the Wahine is tossed onto rocks at the entrance to Wellington Harbour; an Air New Zealand DC-10 plunges into Mt Erebus; an earthquake destroys Christchurch ...disasters like these are known to all New Zealanders: they are part of our history. But New Zealand has experienced many less well-known disasters, some of them shocking and brutal. Graham Hutchins and Russell Young describe some of the most extraordinary events in New Zealand history. Who knew that a fire killed 39 people at Seacliff Mental Hospital in 1942? That 10 people died in a lahar on White Island in 1914? That a yacht race between Lyttelton and Wellington in 1951 resulted in 10 fatalities? That a tornado ripped through 150 houses in Hamilton in 1948? A fire raging through Raetihi in 1918 was so fierce it destroyed houses, shops and 11 timber mills. Drownings were so common here in the 19th century that they were called 'the New Zealand death'. (Book cover)