Farmer suspects earthquake after massive crack in hillside ‘spurts blood’

[ad_1]

Matt Holden said he was lucky there were no cattle nearby when the rift occurred. Photo: Matt Holden

A farmer in the middle of Hawke’s Bay got the surprise of his life when he discovered a huge crack in one of his hillside pastures.

Matt Holden said there had been a lot of rain in Ongaonga, but the ground appeared to have moved because of the earthquake, not because of a slip.

“It was a relief that he didn’t damage any fences or stock, and I thought, ‘Wow, that’s really cool.'” It looked like a huge hole and my blood gushed out. I couldn’t help myself and crawled to the ledge to take a look.”

He described it as like a hot knife through butter that had cut a 20-meter-deep rift that could contain three trucks and trailers stacked in it.

Matt Holden said the pit would fit three trucks and two trailers. Photo: Matt Holden

Holden said the new feature was more of a slack than a skid. He asked around and was told there had been no seismic activity in the area lately.

“So the cultivation duties can be done and life can return to normal, apart from a lot of attention to my new apartment.”

Fortunately, he said, there were no cattle in the barn at the time, and the area was fenced in.

[ad_2]