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New Zealand earthquake: Two dead as tremors strike South Island

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New Zealand quake: 100-year-old woman rescued

Two people are rescued from the The Elms homestead near Kaikoura, including 100-year-old Margaret Edgar, but one person tragically died due to the earthquake.

NZ earthquake: what we know

  • Two people died when two earthquakes struck within minutes of each other on New Zealand's South Island just after midnight, local time, Geonet says.
  • A 100-year-old woman was pulled alive from the rubble of Elms homestead, near Kaikoura.
  • Landslides have buried sections of State Highway One at Kaikoura.
  • More than 400 aftershocks have occurred since the major quake, Geonet reports.
  • A tsunami warning was issued for the whole east coast of New Zealand, but was later lifted. 

Here we have a comprehensive wrap of the earthquake and its aftermath.

 

Lorde: 'We are made of tough stuff'

Aerial photos show landslides on Kaikoura coast

These aerial photos have just been released of numerous landslides around Kaikoura along State Highway One, which hugs the coastline.

The damage there is significant.

 

Truck driver's colleagues fear he may be buried

The New Zealand Herald is reporting that colleagues of a truck driver who is missing after the earthquake fear he may be buried on the Kaikoura coast road.

The man was last seen driving north on State Highway One, sections of which have been buried in landslides caused by the quake.

The driver's colleague, Rangi Dellaway, said he feared the worst as he said it wasn't the first time the piece of road had given away.

Truck driver missing near Kaikoura

An appeal has been put out on social media for information about a truck driver who has been missing since last night's earthquake.

The driver was last reported about 30 kilometres south of Kaikoura, which was severely damaged in the quake.

A number of roads there have been buried in landslides, including sections of State Highway One.

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Christchurch open for tourists: officials

Christchurch's tourism promoters hope visitors do not cancel their holiday plans as they declared the city open for business in the wake of a huge quake that rattled Canterbury.

Christchurch and Canterbury Tourism chief executive Vic Allen said the airport, hotels, conference venues, visitor attractions and car and campervan rental companies were all operating as normal.

He said damage in the Christchurch central district appeared to be minimal, although building assessments were still being carried out.

"Christchurch is now one of the safest cities in the world, following our infrastructure rebuild and strengthening upgrades," he said.

"We are encouraging people to keep their plans to come to Christchurch."

However, north of Christchurch, the popular visitor centres of Hanmer Springs and Kaikoura are currently inaccessible by road and rail.

AP

Woman, 100, rescued from rubble

One of two women who was rescued from the rubble of the flattened Elms homestead near Kaikoura has been identified as 100-year-old Margaret Edgar, Stuff.co.nz reports.

"She moved into The Elms with her family in 1952 and has lived in the 20-room home south of Kaikoura ever since," Stuff reports.

"When Margaret's son Louis married, he moved his wife Pam into the family home, and she ran the camp with Margaret."

Her daughter-in-law was also rescued. One man died at the property, but his identity has not been released.

 

Margaret Edgar, 100, was rescued from the ruins of Elms homestead near Kaikoura.
Margaret Edgar, 100, was rescued from the ruins of Elms homestead near Kaikoura.  Photo: Emma Dangerfield

Breaking: biggest aftershock hits South Island

A magnitude 6.3 aftershock has struck the South Island of New Zealand, about 30 kilometres north of Cheviot at a depth of 35 kilometres, according to GeoNet. Its intensity was rated as severe.

Less than a minute earlier, a 5.7-magnitude aftershock struck 20 kilometres east of Seddon, at a depth of 16 kilometres, GeoNet says. It too was rated as severe.

Looking at the recent data, there were 14 aftershocks between 1.30pm and 2pm local time (AEDT 11.30am-midday).

Quake 'threw man out of bed'

We're yet to see a lot of the damage in Kaikoura, one of the worst-hit areas in last night's earthquake.

Roads, electricity and phone lines into the seaside town have been cut off. Prime Minister John Key is inspecting the damage with Opposition Leader Andrew Little on an Air Force helicopter now.

But Auckland woman Carole told the NZ Herald said her son, who lived in Kaikoura, was able to get in touch and told her the earthquake was violent.

He said the earthquake threw him out of bed onto the floor, while the fridge was thrown from one end of kitchen to the other. The concrete outside has been ripped up and his new brick house was virtually "lost".
 

Train tracks pushed on to beach

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Hotel room 'imploded'

Sydney woman Liz Mather was staying in Wellington last night, and sent in these photos of her hotel room after the earthquake.

She said: "These are photos of our sixth floor hotel room in Wellington that imploded just after midnight. It was terrifying, we have since caught a flight to Auckland but are still very shaken, especially after one hours' sleep."

Liz Mather, from Sydney, sent these images from her hotel in Wellington.

Photo: Liz Mather

Liz Mather, from Sydney, sent these images from her hotel in Wellington.

Photo: Liz Mather

Marine and beach tsunami warning remains in place

A tsunami warning (marine and beach threat) remains in place in the area from Wellington to Banks Peninsula.

Those areas can expect unusually strong currents and unpredictable water flows near the shore. 

The warning for all other regions has been lifted.

 

'There will be more earthquakes'

Science editor Marcus Strom has spoken to Geonet, which monitors seismic activity in New Zealand.

About 10 hours after the huge quake hit, GeoNet had recorded 232 aftershock events. One of those tremors was of 6.1 magnitude. By 9am more than 250 shocks had been recorded.

"We can say one thing with certainty: there will be more earthquakes to come in this area," GeoNet said.

Read Strom's full article here.

Woman, aged 100, pulled from rubble

More details are emerging about the two women who were pulled alive from the rubble of the historic Elms homestead in Kaikoura.

One of the women was 100 years old. Her daughter-in-law also survived.

The New Zealand Herald is reporting that the older women's son was killed when two buildings at the property collapsed during the earthquake.

The remains of the Elms homestead near Kaikoura after the earthquake.
The remains of the Elms homestead near Kaikoura after the earthquake. Photo: Iain McGregor/Fairfax NZ

All Blacks great Richie McCaw joins rescue mission

Richie McCaw, the recently retired All Blacks great, has joined the rescue mission following Monday morning's deadly earthquake.

McCaw is a commercial helicopter pilot and is flying rescue and reconnaissance missions, the New Zealand Herald reports.

He told the news outlet that he was woken just after midnight by the quake, and it was all a "bit scary".

He helped fly two urban search-and-rescue teams to Kaikoura, where one person died in a collapsed house.

"From there, we took the Fire Service just north and south of Kaikoura to check out all the slips and make sure everyone was accounted for," he told the New Zealand Herald.

McCaw said he saw "big cracks in the road, cracks in the side of the hills, and obviously slips".

"At one point, the railway was way out over the sea - it had been pushed out by slips. It would not have been a nice place to be at midnight last night."

 

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Two women pulled alive from rubble

Our colleagues over at Stuff.co.nz are reporting that two women have been pulled alive from the ruins of the Elms homestead, in Kaikoura.

One person died at the property, where two buildings completely collapsed.

Kaikoura Health doctor Chris Henry was among the first on the scene and was involved in the search-and-rescue operation.

He told Stuff: "That was an older house, which unfortunately just collapsed like a stack of cards".

He said three people "pretty well trapped" in the house. A digger was involved in the rescue operation. Two women were pulled alive from the house with the help Fire Service.

"The first lady actually got out pretty easily and the second lady was trapped for a while," he said.

Their injuries were not serious and they were being cared for in Kaikoura.

The remains of the Elms homestead near Kaikoura after the earthquake.
The remains of the Elms homestead near Kaikoura after the earthquake. Photo: Iain McGregor/Fairfax NZ

Two days of earthquakes, in 30 seconds

This gives you an idea of the amount of seismic activity in New Zealand in the past two days.

It's a collection of all earthquakes above magnitude 2, as reported to Geonet.

New Zealand lies within the 'Ring of Fire'

New Zealand lies in the seismically active "Ring of Fire", a 40,000-kilometre arc of volcanoes and oceanic trenches that partly encircles the Pacific Ocean, the US Geological Survey says.

About 90 per cent of the world's earthquakes occur within this region.

Photos emerge of damage near Kaikoura

We're getting more of a picture now of the damage in Kaikoura, one of the hardest-hit areas, on the east coast of the South Island.

Roads, power and phone lines to the area have been cut, so information has been extremely limited. Authorities have flown in to assess the damage.

Radio New Zealand has just posted these images showing some incredible damage there.

Geonet: There were two earthquakes, not one

Geonet, which monitors seismic activity in New Zealand, says it appears that two earthquakes struck within minutes of each other last night, not one.

"Our reports indicate that the combination of these two quakes lasted two minutes, with the most severe shaking at around 50 seconds. It was widely felt throughout both the North and South Islands. It looks like one was a strike-slip and the other was a thrust fault.  

"Further, we have received many aftershocks since the start of the quake. We are currently working to assess each of these but it may take some time."

You can read the full report here.

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