Deja vu as big quake strikes

Former Christchurch resident Sandra Anderson, who moved to Nelson this year, thought her worst nightmare had followed her when she was woken by last night’s earthquake.

The deep, magnitude-7.0 quake which struck the country at 10.36pm was felt strongly in Nelson. It sent people throughout the country diving for cover and hanging on to doorways.

Within minutes, Ms Anderson had her survival coat and torch and was waiting by the door, ready to run outside.

‘‘My initial reaction was shock,’’ she said. ‘‘Then I was preparing – I knew exactly what it was.

‘‘The adrenalin was pumping. It all came back to me. I was quivering.

‘‘I went to bed last night, and it took me ages to sleep. I was pretty worried about it.’’

GeoNet reported that the quake was 230 kilometres deep and was centred 60km south of the Taranaki town of Opunake.

The first quake was followed nine minutes later by a 4.6 shake at the same depth, 70km south of Opunake.

Nelson Tasman Emergency Operations Centre co-ordinator Jim Frater said that while it was a ‘‘bloody good shake’’, it was a low-intensity roll, which indicated less need for concern.

‘‘Once it was clear it was a deep-seated quake, there was less concern, and there was no notification from GNS or the Ministry of Civil Defence. We have a very good system in that the moment there’s a tsunami warning, we get immediate notification through our cellphones. Nothing like that happened last night.’’

Nelson geotechnical consultant Mike Johnston said a bigger quake offshore than last night’s would be needed before Nelson was under threat from a tsunami.

Nelson residents reported a shake of varying intensity, depending on where they lived.

Mr Johnston said people would experience a quake differently, depending on what their house was built of, its orientation and ground ditions.

Maitai Dam caretaker Trevor Ruffell carried out an initial check of the dam last night and was inspecting the water pipeline today. His partner Jude Wilkinson said the quake near the head of the Maitai Valley, where they lived, was ‘‘horrible’’.

‘‘It seemed to last for ages. It wasn’t really that noisy but it was really windy here last night, too. Everything was just shaking and rattling for a long time.’’

Catherine Callaghan, of Nelson city, said it was scary. ‘‘The noise of it was loud, like rumbling thunder, which woke me, and then I felt the house trembling a little, so I leapt out of bed and headed for the front door frame.’’

A budgie cage hanging from a chain was ‘‘swinging about’’.

Lee Nicholson, who lives on the hill to the southwest behind Upper Moutere village, said he ‘‘sure felt’’ the quake. ‘‘Our house really rattled, and with it being brick, we were a bit concerned, but we had no damage.’’

Constable Joe Sims, of Motueka, said police had not received any calls about the quake, which was felt for more than 30 seconds in the town. ‘‘It wasn’t that rough, it was just long.’’

In Riwaka, Ang Lyall said her ‘‘freak-out response was quite high’’. The former Christchurch resident had been in the city for some of the aftershocks there, which she said were more violent than last night’s quake.

She and her husband immediately thought there had been another huge quake in Christchurch.

Tasman deputy mayor Tim King was watching television at his farm in Eves Valley when the quake hit. His older house ‘‘shook, shuddered and rattled quite a lot’’, he said.

Mr King considered taking his three sons outside as the quake stretched on. His 18-year-old son, home from university in Christchurch for the holidays, told his father it was stronger than any of the aftershocks he had felt in Canterbury.

con-