The Model A photos and comments on this page come courtesy of Justin Bicknell of New Zealand. In his words:
One of the unfortunate things about the 1931 Napier, New Zealand earthquake was that it struck at 10:27 on the first day of the new school year, and as a consequence many children lost their lives.
In those days chemist shops (drugstores) had burners going constantly and also many volatile chemicals on the shelves. With the severity of this quake everything was tossed around and fire took hold very quickly, sweeping through the city.
They say every cloud has a silver lining. We now have a magnificent city built structually strong and in the Art Deco style of the early thirties that draws thousands of visitors every year!
Adding to the problem, all the water mains were severed and so no water pressure for the fire brigades. In some place here during the quake the ground rose 6 feet!
The pic below was taken in 1936 after an earthquake liquified the sand on Foxton Beach.
Justin Bicknell