Farmer suspected earthquake after massive hillside crack ‘got blood flowing’

Matt Holden said it was lucky no cattle were nearby when the crack occurred. Photo / Matt Holden

A Central Hawke’s Bay farmer got the surprise of his life when he discovered a huge crack through one of his hill paddocks.

Matt Holden said there had been a lot of rain in Ongaonga, but the land looked like it had moved because of an earthquake, rather than a slip.

“It was a relief that it hadn’t damaged any fences or stock, and I thought, ‘Wow, this is pretty cool’. It looked like a big gaping crack and it got my blood flowing. I couldn’t help myself and crawled to the edge to have a look.”

He described the 20m crack as like a hot knife through butter, leaving enough space to stack three truck-and-trailers in it.

The hole would fit three truck and trailers, Matt Holden said. Photo Matt / Holden

Holden said the new feature was more of a slump than a slip. He asked around and was told there had not been any recent seismic activity in the area.

“So farming duties can be carried on and life is back to normal, apart from a lot of interest in my new crack.”

He said fortunately no cattle were in the paddock at the time, and the area had been fenced off.