She wanted to photograph 25 locals who were affected by the earthquake and show how their lives had changed over the years. 

After sourcing a range of iconic photos from old newspapers for Earthquake: Then and Now, Ms Baird armed herself with a phone book and a telephone. 

But with many name changes and people moving away, Ms Baird turned to social media to track down the remaining subjects. 

A Facebook post calling for help on the project is still the museum’s most liked and shared to this day.

Ms Baird said the popularity of the post proved that fateful day more than two decades ago was still a burning memory for many Novocastrians. 

One of the photographs on exhibition is that of Bruce Hounslow and Margaret Turnbull, taken at the first anniversary of the earthquake. 

Ms Turnbull was a receptionist at the old Newcastle Workers Club while Mr Hounslow was a paramedic. 

The pair were an item for five years and still remain friends.

Ms Turnbull was selling tickets to the Crowded House concert that night when she heard a sound like train, followed by rumbling. 

The office to her right and the safe collapsed through the floor, while sound equipment fell across her office door, trapping her in. 

She doesn’t remember how she got out, but eventually made it out to the median strip to help with the injured. 

Mr Hounslow worked for four hours on Beaumont Street and then another 16 hours at the Workers Club.

He said there was no counselling back in those days – people debriefed by sitting around talking. 

Photographer Luke Kellett managed to capture the pair in an unscripted moment while shooting Earthquake: Then and Now - Mr Hounslow comforting Ms Turnbull in an almost-identical pose captured 24 years earlier, as memories of the earthquake came flooding back. 

■ Earthquake: Then and Now is on at Newcastle Museum until February 8.