Two people killed in major New Zealand earthquake

Police in Christchurch confirmed they had three reports of burglaries from homes where residents evacuated, fearing a tsunami was coming.

The tsunami warning for the entire east coast of New Zealand was cancelled early today and thousands of residents returned home.

But three families found their homes ransacked, Canterbury District Commander Superintendent John Price said.

One of those were Melissa and Matt Mill, whose youngest daughter has muscular dystrophy. The couple lost a work truck and $5000 hearing device relied upon by their 12-year-old daughter, along with items like their television and an Xbox.

The powerful 7.5 magnitude earthquake killed two people and was felt across much of the country just after midnight local time, causing widespread panic, power outages and a small tsunami.

It struck near Hanmer Springs, 91km north of Christchurch, which is still recovering after being devastated by an earthquake in 2011.

Almost 400 aftershocks have been recorded, including four over magnitude six. Scientists have said they could last several months.

The most recent, at 11.30am [Australian eastern time], registered as a “severe” 6.3 magnitude aftershock.

Officials from Geonet, the domestic natural hazards agency, have said one thing can be said “with certainty” — there will be more earthquakes to come in the affected area.

Geonet public information manager Sara McBride said the destructive earthquake was two separate but related events, that lasted a staggering two minutes.

“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.”

There was a 12 per cent chance of a quake higher than a magnitude 7 happening in the 24 hours after the initial quake.

A tsunami — with waves reportedly as high as two metres — struck the northeastern South Island coast around the city of Kaikoura, 183km north of Christchurch, while smaller waves were recorded in the capital city Wellington, at the southern tip of the North Island, and locations along the east coast. No significant damage or injuries resulting from the tsunami have been reported.

The nationwide tsunami threat has now been cancelled.

Last 48 hours in NZ in 30 seconds. #eqnz

All quakes above magnitude of 2.

Source: https://t.co/p9CvaAHuK3 pic.twitter.com/6SuProXUue

— Harkanwal (@kamal_hothi) November 13, 2016

TWO CONFIRMED DEATHS

Police confirmed one death at the Elms Homestead in Kaikoura, where three people live. One person was able to escape, one was rescued and third was killed.

A doctor involved in the frantic search through the rubble, Chris Henry, told Stuff the home“collapsed like a pack of cards”.

A digger was used to help remove the trapped people. Two women were pulled out of the ruins by the fire service.

“The first lady actually got out pretty easily and the second lady was trapped for awhile,” Dr Henry said.

One of the rescued women was reportedly 100-years-old. The victim is believed to be the elderly woman’s son. The other woman was the victim’s wife.

The second death is thought to have happened on a remote property about 150km north of Christchurch. That person reportedly died from a heart attack.

Civil Defence, which handles the response to internal emergencies, has been told a truckie is missing and is frantically searching under tonnes of earth that has covered a major highway near Kaikoura.

Colleagues of a truck driver fear he has been buried under a large landslide on the Kaikoura coast.

The man was last seen headed north on the road ten minutes before the quake struck early this morning — and has not been heard from since then.

There were power outages in both the North and South Islands and mobile phone networks struggled to keep up with demand as panicked people tried to get in touch with loved ones.

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key told reporters early on Monday there had been two deaths. More couldn’t be ruled out as authorities reached isolated communities near the epicentre.

Mr Key praised the response to the disaster and tsunami warnings. “New Zealanders responded as they should have. They took the (Civil Defence) advice seriously,” he said.

He and acting Civil Defence Minister Gerry Brownlee have flown on a military helicopter to inspect the damage.

#Kaikoura #earthquake pic.twitter.com/cyCxCZlNWi

— Daniel Bullen (@DanielBullen) November 13, 2016

The Canterbury District Health Board have confirmed that three people have been treated in the Christchurch Hospital emergency department with earthquake-related injuries. They were a male in his late 50s from Kaikoura, a female in early 50s from Kaikoura and male in early 60s from North Canterbury.

They were all in a stable condition.

Some homes close to the epicentre are reportedly unliveable. Major highways have been blocked essentially cutting Kaikoura off.

A house at Bluff Station btw Blenheim & Kaikoura. Right on the Kekerengu fault line. Sue Murray says Simon, a farm worker was in the house pic.twitter.com/n1gxBJqX8s

— Alex Perrottet (@alexperro) November 13, 2016

‘I THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO DIE’

TsunJeck Lim, 26, was shaken awake on the 10th floor of a central Wellington apartment building.

Water poured from the roof as pipes burst. His furniture and possessions were strewn across the apartment.

“I thought I was going to die,” he told theThe New Zealand Herald.

“Things started shaking and then things started falling one by one. I thought the building was going to collapse, but it stopped and I just ran down the stairs.”

He returned inside at 5am, and was shocked by the scale of the damage.

Photos show his whole apartment in disarray, with furniture and possessions strewn everywhere.

He was later seeking shelter at an office nearby.

“I am still terrified. I haven’t slept all night.”

Ron in Sydenham, Christchurch, described the shaking as “like being on a ship”.

Photos from Oaro, Kaikoura show the force of the #eqnz @nzherald pic.twitter.com/iaZihnweCw

— Morgan Tait (@morgtait) November 13, 2016

Wow, @stuartsmithmp #eqnz pic.twitter.com/hZ9kpQjIX0

— Megan Campbell (@MeganCampbellNZ) November 13, 2016

“It was a very massive earthquake. Everything that’s hanging is continually shaking like we’re on the harbour, on the lake.”

Tess Prentice was thrown out of her bed in her North Canterbury clifftop family home and she thought it was the “end of the world”.

Huddling with her parents, Dr Anthea and Snip Prentice, she began to sob as the violent tremors rolled on and on.

“It was like someone picked up the house and started shaking us,” Anthea told the Herald.

They ended up running onto the lawn.

By the time the shaking was over their North Canterbury house had been ruined.

Its exterior and interior is both cracked and gaping. The chimney collapsed, with a gaping hole in the roof. Shelves have been emptied.

“All our treasures... things we have inherited from our parents... stuff you can’t really replace,” says Anthea.

But the Prentices knew they were lucky to not have rolled down the cliff into the Pacific.

“Plenty of people over the years have said, ‘Oh that’s close to the edge...’ but I’ve always felt quite safe here,” Anthea said.

Newstalk ZB host Chris Lynch, who lives on the top floor of an apartment complex in central Christchurch, said the quake was like nothing he’d ever experienced.

“In terms of the motion of the quake ... You felt off balance no matter what you tried to do or where you tried to escape.

“The sheer rolling motions ... I really thought it wasn’t going to end.”

Mr Lynch said the motions of the quake made it particularly frightening.

“You get used to aftershocks, you just swear and laugh at them then go about your daily life.

“This one was frightening, in fact it wasn’t shaking just going up or down, it was all over the show like you were the tennis ball in the juggler’s arm.”

June in Martinborough in the Wairarapa said she felt shaking then rolling.

“I live in a 90-year-old house. I’ve got a lot of things hanging up like wind chimes. They were swaying back and forth by at least a foot.

“I was crouched with the dogs under the door. I felt seasick.”

Geonet confirmed the magnitude as 7.5 after initially reporting it as 6.6.

DAMAGE

Schools from North Canterbury to Wellington have been asked to stay closed until they can be checked for damage.

The Wellington CBD resembles a ghost town today with many workers staying away from the downtown area while streets are cleared of debris and buildings are checked. The central city sustained minor damage in a series of smaller quakes in 2013.

Residents rushed to the hills that ring the city early Monday when the tsunami alert was issued. Many said on social media they were reluctant to return to sea level after the fright.

Kaikoura and several small South Island towns have been left isolated, with water and sewerage systems down and roads and rail lines blocked.

Power was cut to many towns and cities in the upper South Island lower North island, but is slowly being restored. The worst affected may still be without power into Tuesday.

The cost of the earthquake is expected to run into the hundreds of millions of dollars.

Seismologist Caroline Little told Newshub the earthquake had “30 times” more energy than the February 2011 one, but the energy release was spread over a much wider area.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull told Sunrise he had spoken with Mr Key.

“I assured him of absolute solidarity and support from Australia. John appreciated that. He knows that we support them when it comes to emergencies and natural disasters.”

He said he passed on Australian condolences for the two people killed.

“But obviously, it is early days. He is a great leader. New Zealand is very experienced with dealing with earthquakes, and I am sure he will have the matter in hand.”

The quake temporarily knocked out New Zealand’s emergency call number, 111, police reported.

Near the epicentre, it opened up snaking fissures in roads and triggered landslides. In Wellington, it collapsed a ferry loading ramp, broke windows and caused items to fall from shelves. It also forced hundreds of tourists onto the streets as hotels were evacuated.

Authorities in Wellington were urging people who work in the centre of the city to stay home today. City officials said some large buildings were showing signs of structural stress, and that the quake would likely have caused a mess in some buildings. The city’s suburban rail network was shut while crews checked tracks, bridges and tunnels.

Those caught up in the quake said they feared for their lives. Pam Bennett from Amberley told TVNZ the quake was the worst she’d ever felt.

“It was like my house was on a bungee cord — boom, boom, boom, backwards and forwards. I just couldn’t stand up no matter what,” she said.

Anna Harcourt told the Herald Sun: “I was asleep and all off a sudden I was woken to my bedroom shaking. It just went on and on and there was a moment when I genuinely thought that this was it, that my life was going to end.”

Ms Harcourt said she ran out of her bedroom and hid for cover under a table.

“As soon as the trembling stopped my boyfriend and I ran outside and saw heaps of people and families gathered together,” she said. “Everyone is in complete shock … it’s terrifying.”

There were reports that houses in Cheviot, near where the quake was centred in Canterbury, were badly affected by the shake.

Photos and videos posted to social media showed shelves overturned inside homes, wine bottles smashed on the ground of stores and people out on the street following the initial quake.

The earthquake is the third over 7 magnitude since 2009 to shake the South Island. Scientists told New Zealand media while that was “unusual” it was within expectations in a historical context.

andrew.koubaridis@news.com.au