NZ launches rescue efforts for people stranded by quake
Print Edition
NEW Zealand is planning to send in military helicopters and a navy ship to rescue about 1,000 tourists and hundreds of residents who remain stranded in the coastal town of Kaikoura after a powerful earthquake yesterday cut off train and vehicle access.
The magnitude-7.8 quake struck the South Island just after midnight. It left two people dead and triggered a small tsunami. It also brought down rocks and mud that swept across highways and cracked apart roads.
Home to about 2,000 residents, Kaikoura is a popular destination for travelers taking part in whale-watching expeditions or wanting a stopover with mountain views. But the quake knocked out water supplies and sewerage systems and left people with no easy way out.
“From all directions, Kaikoura has essentially been isolated,” said Air Commodore Darryn Webb, the Acting Commander of New Zealand’s Joint Forces. “There’s a real imperative to support the town because it can’t support itself.”
Webb said the military planned to begin using four NH90 helicopters today that could each transport about 18 people out of the town at a time. He said a ship was also leaving Auckland to pick up hundreds of people if weather conditions allowed. “We’re going to get as many people and belongings out as quickly as we can.”
The operation could take several days if the weather hampered efforts, but added that if needed, a C-130 military transport plane could drop fuel, water, food and other supplies to the town.
Elsewhere, strong aftershocks continued to shake New Zealand yesterday, rattling the nerves of exhausted residents. The country was largely spared the devastation it saw in 2011 when an earthquake struck the city of Christchurch and killed 185 people. That quake was one of New Zealand’s worst disasters, causing an estimated US$25 billion in damage.
Yesterday’s quake caused damage in Wellington, the capital, and was also strongly felt in Christchurch. Residents said the shaking went on for about three minutes.
Police said one person died in Kaikoura and another in Mt Lyford, a nearby ski resort. Several other people suffered minor injuries in Kaikoura, police spokeswoman Rachel Purdom said.
Prime Minister John Key flew over the destruction in Kaikoura by helicopter as aftershocks kicked up dust from the landslides below. Cars could be seen lying on their sides and parts of the road were clearly impassable. “It’s just utter devastation,” Key said.
He later toured the area and met with locals. He estimated the clean-up effort would run into the billions of dollars and said clearing the debris and blocked roads could take months.
The quake temporarily knocked out New Zealand’s emergency call number, 111. 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.
Police, meanwhile, stepped up their patrols after receiving several reports of burglaries in homes and businesses that had been evacuated due to the quake.
The location of yesterday’s quake largely helps to explain why the damage was so minimal compared to the 2011 tremor, said Mark Quigley, associate professor of active tectonics at the University of Melbourne in Australia.
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