Lake Taupo¯ surges after earthquake
Boats destroyed by surge of water, residents scared as items fall in homes
Atsunami in Lake Taupo¯ sparked by a strong earthquake overnight destroyed boats and caused damage to the township’s foreshore yesterday .
More than 150 aftershocks were detected in 12 hours after the 5.6 magnitude quake which struck just before midnight on Wednesday 20km southwest of Taupo¯ at a depth of 5km.
The biggest aftershock was reported at 12.40am with a 4.5 magnitude quake.
Coastguard Lake Taupo¯ skipper Mike Hughes said the earthquake caused a surge of water to sweep up some beaches.
In Four Mile Bay at the southern end of Taupo¯ township, the water had surged about 20-30 metres up the beach, destroying two boats belonging to Taupo¯ Pedal Boats, ripping wooden bollards
from a park area nearby and eroding about two metres of soil away from the foreshore.
Hughes said it was the same concept as a tsunami at sea — if it is long and strong, with an earthquake lasting more than a minute then it was best advised to get away from the water’s edge.
Taupo¯ Pedal Boats owners Jess Ratana and Kiripiti Bowden were down at the lake’s edge pulling the two four-person pedal boats off the rocks with a 4WD ute.
Ratana said they were fortunate all of their pedal bikes were intact but the larger pedal boats were the only two they had.
“It’s just pulled them out and the wind direction has taken them this way and they have ended up being smashed against the rocks.”
She said they were insured. She said their summer season kicks off in about two weeks but it would likely take at least two months to get replacement boats bought and shipped in from overseas.
Taupo¯ mayor David Trewavas said it was a pretty big earthquake but yesterday they had not identified any damage to infrastructure.
Geonet said 150 quakes had been recorded since the initial shock that saw items fall from walls and shelves and gave residents across the central region a sleepless night.
GNS seismic duty officer John Ristau and volcanic duty officer Steve Sherburn said the quake was by far the largest tremor recorded since May when activity ramped up
under the lake.
The previous largest was a 4.2 magnitude quake on September 10.
While there was a small possibility an even more powerful quake would strike, the likely scenario was a repeat of an earlier September sequence which saw activity decrease.
“The most likely scenario is there will be a number of smaller aftershocks which will taper off.”
The volcanic risk remained low with “no concerns at this time,” Sherburn said.
However, he said we live in a country where earthquakes are part of everyday life” and this meant following Civil Defence advice around being prepared
for natural disasters, and following the “drop, cover, hold” mantra when quakes happen.
Meanwhile, Countdown Taupo¯ Central was closed yesterday while earthquake risk assessments were carried out.
There was no visible damage or disruption inside the store so store manager Chris Partridge was optimistic that they would be given the goahead to reopen before the anticipated busy upcoming weekend.
Oruanui resident Beth told Newstalk ZB: “Never felt anything like it before. Things fell down and next thing I could hear water.
“It shook the hot boiler so violently it’s ruptured all the
pipes at the top. Water was spraying all over the floor down and through the carpet.
“First thing I did was dive into the room and get my grandson — he looked quite frightened. And then I ran outside in the dark to turn the water off.”
Another Taupo¯ resident, Karen, said her family was “shaken up pretty badly”.
“We’ve been through the big quake in Whakata¯ ne years ago and this was not nice. It was a complete reminder of what we went through back then.”
Taupo¯ local Stacey Fox, whose house is on a hill, said it shook all night; breaking glass and spilling books and cans from the pantry onto the floor.