Seddon earthquake aftermath

NZ earthquake: learning to roll with the punches

Doug Avery says he is learning you can't fight quakes but you have to learn to roll with the punches.

Stuff,

18 August, 2013

Doug Avery says he is learning you can't fight quakes but you have to learn to roll with the punches.

Mr Avery and his wife, Wendy, have barely slept since a fault, named for the Grassmere area where they farm, ruptured almost beneath their property, on Friday.

The magnitude 6.6 quake, which struck at 2.31pm, smashed almost everything in their home and knocked down two chimneys.

Renowned for their generosity with time and advice, the Averys feel stressed and exhausted but are finding it hard to accept help themselves. Many others in the area are worse off, they insist.

The damage and constant shaking is a double whammy for the Averys and others in the Ward area. About a month ago, 225kmh winds ripped through the district, leaving a mess of fallen trees.

Just before the quake hit, Mr Avery was lifting a massive log off a fence using his tractor.

Mrs Avery was burning storm debris in the garden.

Mr Avery said he thought he had snagged a fence when the shaking started, then, as the ground bucked violently, he dropped the log fearing that the tractor would tip over.

"I felt like my head was exploding, there was stuff going up and down."

The family, including their daughter-in-law, Shelley, and grandchildren Oliver, 5, and Quinn, 3, gathered at home.

Then, alert to the risk of a tsunami they climbed a hill and waited for the all-clear through "terrific aftershocks".

Of all the people who helped, he most appreciated skilled staff from Marlborough Lines who were sensitive and courteous while working to restore power in wet and stormy conditions, Mr Avery said.

Marlborough District Council inspectors checked the Averys' home yesterday morning and declared it safe.

It was hard to live with the knowledge there could still be big quakes to come, Mr Avery said.

"But we still love this area," he said of the Grassmere area where his family has farmed since 1919.

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Experts predict another big jolt in the next week

Another large shake on both sides of Cook Strait is highly likely over the next week, experts say.

Stuff,

19 August, 2013

The chance of a jolt of at least magnitude 5 in the next seven days is 82 per cent, according to GNS Science seismologists, and the likelihood of a magnitude 6 or more quake is about 16 per cent.

Seismologist Caroline Holden warned people to be vigilant and expect another large shake.Since Friday afternoon's 6.6 tremor, there had been another 62 aftershocks reaching magnitude 4 or more, by yesterday evening.

Dr Holden's colleague Martin Reyners said the area near Seddon where the earthquakes were recurring was known as an active one. There was a magnitude 6 quake there in 1966, and another in 1977.

The level of horizontal acceleration, which is the amount of movement people feel from a quake, was similar to that felt during the Christchurch earthquakes, but not as significant.

"It's a different experience for everyone, depending on what soil your house is built on. At its worst acceleration, there were reports of people not being able to stay standing upright," he said.

The sequence of quakes was slowly tracking southwest, away from Wellington, but on to land in Marlborough.

"Friday's quake was situated so that the people of Seddon were sitting pretty much on top of it, which explains the damage. Each quake changes the stresses in the fault. In areas where the stress has gone up, near a fault, it can trigger another event."

In the case of the recent quakes, there had been some triggering as the stresses shifted south. This would mean the effects would be felt less in Wellington, but more in Seddon.

CAPITAL OPEN FOR BUSINESS

Wellingtonians can re-enter the central city today with "a degree of confidence," the region's Civil Defence controller has said.

Bruce Pepperell said road and building infrastructure had been checked thoroughly after Friday's 6.6 magnitude earthquake and Wellington city had been declared open for business.

"We're 99 per cent back to normal, albeit a new normal," he said this morning.

Lukes Lane, which links Manners and Taranaki Sts, remained cordoned off and its surrounding buildings empty this morning while an unstable lift shaft was demolished.

Motorists were being asked to avoid the area if possible.

Pepperell said he was aware of "one or two" buildings that were closed this morning.

Employers were doing a good job of communicating building safety issues to their staff, he said.

"They have a lot more of an understanding about their responsibility ... after last month's earthquake," he said.

A Greater Wellington Regional Council spokeswoman said all bus, train and harbour ferry services in the region were running to normal timetables this morning.

Ministry of Education Deputy Secretary Andrew Hampton said last night that the majority of schools, early childhood education providers and tertiary institutions in quake-affected areas were expected to open today.

"To date we have only received reports of superficial damage to buildings and property," he said.

"However, decisions on whether to open are made by the providers themselves, so if parents or students are in any doubt they should check with directly with the school, early childhood education service or tertiary institution."