A QUAKE THAT MOVED MOUNTAINS.

Vast geological changes likely to harm tourism

•In terms of human life, the magnitude-7.8 earthquake that hit New Zealand this month was relatively merciful: two fatalities. But geologically, it moved roads and mountains and even displaced the sea, leaving a formidable mark from which tourism, farming and life in general may need years to recover.

From the air, the power of the Nov. 14 quake becomes clear. It was strong enough to raise entire sections of the seabed and send hillsides tumbling across State Highway One, which winds along the coastline into Kaikoura.

Until last week it was the main route for tourists heading south from the town of Picton for whale-watching boat trips; now it’s deserted.

“If you go from Kaikoura north, that road is a complete and utter mess,” Prime Minister John Key told locals during a trip to the area.

“Like, it is way worse than anything I’ve seen. So just to get a bit of perspective, the whole mountain has moved in a number of places. And so the road, which used to go around the coast, looks like it’s going into a mountain.”

The geological changes on the northeastern coast of South Island will affect locals and the tourist season. This South Pacific nation of fewer than five million welcomes more than three million tourists each year.

The country was spared a larger catastrophe because the epicentre was far from any cities, and officials stress that most of New Zealand remains safe and unaffected.

But thousands who once used the South Island coastal road will need instead to drive a circuitous inland route. Transport authorities say that since the quake, traffic on that route has increased fourfold.

Even if the roads are restored, the future for the popular whale-watching trips in Kaikoura remains in doubt. That’s because the seabed has risen so much that operators can only get their boats out to sea for a few hours each day during high tide. What once was ocean is now exposed rock.

Kauahi Ngapora, general manager of Whale Watch Kaikoura, said options include dredging the marina or building a temporary causeway to deeper water.