Earthquake tonight

[Rob Beale]

That "Canoe" report is very good.

Tsunamis have hit Gisborne's coastal area often in the past. One in the 1940's hit just to the north and washed a bridge away as well as flooding a pub and destroying at least one house.

Since the Boxing Day Tsunami, scientists re-evaluated the threat to NZ and found that good old Gisborne is at worst risk. A major earthquake of magnitude 8 or more hitting in the same area as Thursdays quake could cause an undersea landslip into the Hikurangi trench which lies offshore, parallel to the axis of the island. The warning period is about 20 minutes!


Well Tony I think its time the Black Caps changed from cricket to some other game: I don't see how the sponsors justify their costs.

I took a walk through town yesterday to have a look. There are still 3 blocks cordoned off. Workers were removing loose masonry on some buildings. Two of the worst hit shops were victims of insecure neighbours - in one case a complete first floor wall fell through the roof of a single storey neighbour.

On the night of the quake we found a lump of masonry lying on the pavement 10 metres away from our car - the lump was the size of a stove! and had crashed through the verandah.

Rob