CHRISTCHURCH: Rescuers in New Zealand were scrambling Monday to reach the epicentre of a powerful 7.8 earthquake that killed at least two people and sparked a tsunami alert that sent thousands fleeing for higher ground.
The jolt, one of the most powerful ever recorded in the quake-prone South Pacific nation, hit just after midnight Monday near the South Island coastal town of Kaikoura.
As dawn broke there was scant information from many nearby rural villages, which were isolated by landslips and fractured telephone communications as strong aftershocks continued.
Prime Minister John Key confirmed two people had died and said “we cannot rule out” that number will rise.
Police were trying to reach the scene of one fatality at a remote property 150 kilometres (93 miles) north of Christchurch while another person died in a historic homestead which collapsed at Kaikoura.
“At this point we are unable to give precise details of what caused those fatalities,” Key said, adding that communication problems made it difficult to give an accurate assessment.
With roads blocked, a helicopter was taking a search and rescue team to Kaikoura, where aerial television footage showed huge landslips and at least one home destroyed.
Key said military choppers had also been drafted in check the scale of destruction.
“As soon as we can get a much better assessment of the actual damage then we can work out the next steps,” he said
Soon after the earthquake, tsunami warning sirens were activated in South Island coastal towns and along the east coast of the North Island, with police and emergency workers going door to door to evacuate seaside properties.
The ministry of civil defence, responsible for emergency management in New Zealand, initially warned of a “destructive tsunami” with waves of up to five metres (16 feet).
The first waves were measured around two metres and four hours later authorities downgraded the warning, but said risks remained.
The earthquake struck at 12:02am Monday (1102 GMT Sunday) and was 23 kilometres deep, the US Geological Survey said, putting the epicentre in the South Island s North Canterbury region.
It ignited painful memories for residents in nearby Christchurch, which was devastated five years ago by a 6.3 tremor which killed 185 people.
“It was massive and really long,” Tamsin Edensor, a mother of two in Christchurch, told AFP, describing the powerful quake as the biggest since the 2011 tremor which was one of New Zealand s deadliest disasters.
“We were asleep and woken to the house shaking, it kept going and going and felt like it was going to build up.”
Earthquake engineer Ken Elwood from the University of Auckland said the impact of the latest quake would have been much worse had it hit at lunchtime, like the Christchurch one.
“When it happens in the middle of the day it s a very different story,” he told TVNZ.
“People were safe in their homes, homes might get damaged but they re safer for the people inside and that s certainly the blessing of this earthquake.”
The main tremor was followed by a series of strong aftershocks, with reports of damaged houses.
