Tourists stranded, aftershocks hinder recovery in New Zealand

The temblor sparked up to 100,000 landslides.

The 7.8-magnitude tremor struck just after midnight on Sunday, destroying farm homesteads, sending glass and masonry toppling from buildings in the capital, Wellington, and cutting road and rail links throughout the northeast of the ruggedly handsome South Island.

Mark Solomon, leader of the local Maori tribe said they fed the evacuees with crayfish, a famous local delicacy.

Hundreds of people were stranded in Kaikoura after the magnitude 7.8 quake on Monday cut off train and vehicle access to the town.

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.

Aucklander Leanne Foulds told Radio New Zealand that some had to sign up twice to board one of the four New Zealand Defence Force helicopters which flew supplies into the town and carried people out. “We were fortunate to have a reasonable break in the weather today”.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) – The first US warship to visit New Zealand in more than 30 years was changing course Tuesday to help evacuate people stranded in a coastal town following a powerful natural disaster.

Chinese state media said it sent helicopters in to evacuate Chinese tourists in the city.

Television New Zealand (TVNZ) reported that four Air Force NH90 helicopters were deployed Tuesday to evacuate tourists and residents from the town of Kaikoura.

The Chinese government reportedly chartered a helicopter to get their citizens out of Kaikoura.

Two severe 5.2 and 5.8 magnitude earthquakes have been recorded in the north of the South Island on November 15, and thousands of residents and tourists trapped as a result of the event on November 14 have been told to conserve food and water supplies.

Webb said warships from Australia, Canada and the US were due to arrive soon and would help restock the town with water, fuel and other supplies as well as transport needed equipment. Due to power outage, tanks that hold the expensive crustaceans had stopped pumping. “Between 700 and 1,000 people still require evacuation”, Stuart-Black said.

Hundreds of aftershocks have rocked the area since the first quake hit, according to the BBC.

The tremor, one of the most powerful ever in the quake-prone South Pacific nation, hit just after midnight on Monday morning, with more than 1,200 aftershocks complicating relief efforts.

Massive landslides that buried road and rail links along the South Island’s east coast will take “many months” to fix, Transport Minister Simon Bridges said.

It triggered a tsunami warning and a landslide.

Acting Civil Defence Minister Gerry Brownlee said they have accepted help from the U.S. Navy. The latter location was hit by a 6.3-magnitude quake in February 2011, killing 185 and causing damage across the country.