Earthsea Gallery

Today, June 17th is the 90th anniversary of the 1929 Murchison earthquake. It struck the Murchison region of the South Island, with an estimated magnitude of 7.3 at 10.17am, and was felt throughout New Zealand. The earthquake triggered many landslides and these created 38 new lakes, of which 21 still remain. Kahurangi's largest natural lake, Lake Stanley didn't exist before the 1929 Murchison Earthquake which caused the whole side of nearby Mt Snowden (1859m) to literally collapse and block off the valley with a massive rubble dam. The still-raw catastrophic cleavage stretches almost two kilometres up to the top of the mountain. Your mind boggles to imagine it coming down, collapsing with such force that it surged up the other side of the valley. Peter was inspired to paint Lake Stanley after a helicopter trip into Kahurangi National Park and it feels appropriate to add this painting to our website today.