Aftershocks and Flooding Batter New Zealand In Earthquake Aftermath

The global rescue mission’s top priority is evacuating tourists from Kaikoura, which has been cut off after huge landslides severed road and rail access.

The quake was strongly felt to the south in Christchurch but was far less damaging than a smaller 2011 natural disaster that devastated the city and killed 185 people.

Sarah Stuart-Black, director of the Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management, said the priority was transporting out those people with health issues or global flights booked.

Other emergency services were also using helicopters to fly in supplies and fly out those who wanted to leave, Civil Defense’s acting national controller Shane Bayley told reporters.

About 1,000 tourists were thought to be stranded in Kaikoura, a popular tourist destination famed for its coastal scenery and whale-watching activities.

Jolts of magnitudes 5.8 and 5.2 centred about 15km east of Seddon, north-east of Kaikoura, were strongly felt throughout the region yesterday, bringing to more than 1,000 the number of aftershocks since the big 7.5 quake in the early hours of Monday morning. “I understand that the roads north and south are out so we are pretty well isolated”. With no power, the tanks that hold the expensive crustaceans stopped pumping.

Two hundred people were evacuated from the area yesterday, but there are 700 – 1000 people still waiting to leave.

The Royal New Zealand Air Force’s 3 Squadron set out two NH90 helicopters to deliver about 8000kg of aid supplies to Kaikoura and rescued another 165 people.

A pair of cows were left stranded following an quake in New Zealand after another group of three cows were rescued.

With damage expected to take months to fix, the government announced a NZ$7.5 million ($5.3 million) package to support small businesses in Kaikoura for two months.

With more than 800 aftershocks recorded since the first big quake on Monday, anxious residents in the upper South Island are living on a knife edge hoping that the worst is over.

Authorities also managed to clear an emergency inland road to Kaikoura, although it was only open for military vehicles.

Australian, US and Canadian warships are heading to Kaikoura and their helicopters would increase the numbers that could be evacuated, Stuart-Black said.

The New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) has accepted offers of help from naval ships from the United States, Australia, Canada, Japan and Singapore.

New Zealand sits on the inside of the Pacific Ocean’s “Ring of Fire”.

In Wellington, as many as 60 buildings suffered structural damage, including a multi-storey building near the parliament complex that would have to be taken down, engineers said.

And while life is slowly returning to normal further north in the capital, several buildings have been evacuated, and one will likely be demolished after being cordoned off on Tuesday night after fears it may collapse.