LOCAL CAUGHT UP

A NEW Zealander caught up in a powerful 6.7magnitude earthquake that rocked the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido early yesterday said thoughts of Christchurch were charging through his mind.

The earthquake struck just hours after the country was battered by Typhoon Jebi, the most powerful storm to hit Japan in more than 25 years.

Mark Bryan, managing director of VetSouth in Winton, was woken by alarms at his hotel.

He was staying on the ninth floor of a hotel in the city of Obihiro, which is not far from the epicentre.

‘‘The alarm went off . . . with flashing lights, a repeat alarm and announcement in Japanese saying there was an emergency and evacuation,’’ Mr Bryan said.

‘‘Thoughts of Christchurch were charging through my head and I know Japan’s had its share of earthquake activity, so I was pretty keen to get outside into the middle of the street.’’

After realising what was happening, he grabbed a few things and ran down the stairs. He said the evacuation was ordered and calm.

‘‘People were waiting patiently in the streets until taken back into the hotels. Some had chosen to stay inside.

‘‘All the power in the city went off . . . but everything was fairly sedate. There were lots of alarms from various hotels in the neighbourhood.’’

He was able to return to his hotel room within an hour.

‘‘I packed up and walked to the bus station. Nothing of course was working and they were warning of delays,’’ he said.

Passengers on the bus to the airport were kept updated through TV news, which screened images of collapsed houses and landslips.

The night before, Mr Bryan witnessed the tail end of Typhoon Jebi, which killed at least 11 and left more than 450 injured.

The cities of Osaka, Kobe and Kyoto were some of the worst hit and Kansai International Airport could remain closed for up to a week. — NZME

❛ I was pretty keen to get outside into the middle of the street

Mark Bryan