[4] Property damage occurred on a mass scale, with cracked walls, broken windows and fallen chimneys being the most common structural problems.

Personal items such as cutlery, glassware and furniture were reportedly damaged from as far afield as Wellington and Wairoa, both about 180 kilometres (110 mi) from the epicentre.

Heavy rockfall was recorded along the Hawke's Bay and Wairarapa coastline, where the Mercalli intensity of the earthquake was VII and VIII.

In Napier, several tonnes of rock fell from Bluff Hill during the earthquake and smaller slips continually occurred for at least three days with each passing aftershock.

One eyewitness report from Napier stated "A gentleman who was driving along the beach road at the time of the disturbance, happened to look over to the Whare-o-Maraenui reserve, where he saw large quantities of mud thrown 10 ft into the air in several places.

"[4] An excerpt from the Manawatu Evening standard of 12 August read: "Following the earthquake shock and fall of earth off the cliffs at Gladstone, innumerable small holes appeared on the flat adjacent, spouting bluish mud and sand like miniature geysers.

McLaughlin's cliffs seemed to stagger, and then some thousands of tons of face fell with a roar into the Makaha creek, forcing the water over the flat, and strewing the land with eels and small trout.

James Green, who was digging out an embedded rock nearby, was thrown violently, the ground opening under him a foot wide, spurting mud and water over him….