'Bloody shambles' in Kawerau as rolling earthquakes rock Bay of ...

Kawerau businesses are in “bloody shambles” after rolling, “jolting” earthquakes that have continued through Saturday morning.

Nicole Harris said her bones were still rattled from the continuous quakes that caused thousands of worth of damage at Super Liquor Kawerau.

Have you been affected by the earthquakes? Let us know at [email protected]

GeoNet said it had recorded a “swarm” of earthquakes between magnitude 2.5 and 4.8, around Whakatāne and Tauranga.

The earthquakes started at 3.29am with the most recent being recorded at 12.10pm, 20km west of Whakatāne.

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GeoNet

A “swarm” of earthquakes were felt in the Bay of Plenty on Saturday morning.

Harris is the duty manager at the liquor store and was home when she felt the first quake.

“I was up at 3.30am for the first big one when my daughter came running from the caravan.

“We were pretty much up since then with all the tremors happening, because you just want to be prepared in case you had to run outside.”

She arrived at the store at 7.30am for a clean-up but the shake around 9am knocked everything off the shelves again.

“I don't really see it opening today, it is a bloody shambles in here.”

Harris said half of the store’s stock had been damaged, with costs running into the thousands.

“Some of our bottles alone are over $150 or $250, when you add up each one, it is a lot.

“It was scary enough to be home with kids and then come to work and try to clean it up and it is still shaking.

“You just want to run outside and stand in the middle of the f...... road.”

Harris said she had never experienced anything like that before.

“I am definitely rattled from this… Since I moved to Kawerau, I have experienced earthquakes, but nothing quite like we have felt overnight.

“That’s enough to rattle my bones.”

GeoNet

Seismic record showing evidence of swarm activity. Image from GeoNet at 5.25am on Saturday morning.

Despite the damage, Harris was glad the quakes did not happen on the Hawke’s Bay side.

“They have got enough devastation as it is.”

Around 20 staff were inside New World Kawerau cleaning up from the early morning earthquake when they felt another one around 9am.

A spokesperson said most things – grocery, beauty products, bottles – were knocked off the shelves.

“We are not going to open today.”

Kawerau resident Abbie Dods said the town was no stranger to earthquakes, but the latest swarm felt like someone had picked up the house and shaken it.

Dods was in the bed with her two cats - one of whom is still missing - when a glass lamp fell on them, alerting them to the incoming quakes.

However, the predicament was, the 3.30am quake was accompanied by thunder, lighting, storm and heavy rain.

“We have a warning saying incoming thunderstorms and rain, remain indoors, and then we have long and strong earthquakes where we are meant to get gone.”

Dods said the tremors were ongoing, and had been consistent since late Friday night.

Living on the White Island fault line, Dods said she always had an emergency bag – with clothes and tinned food – ready-to-go.

However, the recent disasters meant she had already been chipping into the kits.

“There are shortages in supermarkets, and it feels like there is one natural disaster after the other.”

GNS Science Seismic Duty Officer Elizabeth Abbott said ‘swarm’ was a common and expected activity in the area.

“In this particular area we have seen several swarms in the past, most recently in 2018 and 2019.”

Abbott explained swarms were different from aftershocks as the latter involved one larger earthquake with lots of little ones that followed, whereas a swarm was a cluster of similarly-sized earthquakes in close time and space.

The region should expect more swarms, she said.

“As of this morning, there were plenty of earthquakes still coming through, and it often takes a few days to die out completely.”

Abbot said this was a wake-up call for everyone to remain prepared.

“It is probably very unsettling to get a bunch of earthquakes like this, especially on the back of the crazy weather from February.

“It is just a good reminder to everyone to be prepared and that we live in a very active country.”

Clinton Naude, duty controller for Bay of Plenty Civil Defence Emergency Management Group, said council teams were checking for any damage to infrastructure like roads and water pipes.

”There has been at least one slip with trees down in Kawerau. No people or buildings were directly affected but the local civil defence controller is getting more information about any damage there.

“Other specialist teams are actively checking any other reports of damage as they come in.”

Naude advised the standard “drop, cover and hold” when people felt a quake, and said people in coastal tsunami evacuation areas should evacuate inland or to higher ground if they felt a long or strong quake.

“If people are safe at home, the best advice is to stay there - we are still checking on road damage and there may be unreported slips or trees down that could make driving hazardous.

“It’s also important to keep the roads free for emergency services should they be required.

”Our message to people feeling rattled right now is that what you are feeling is normal and human - and we know lots of people will be thinking back to the big Edgecumbe quake.

“Facts sometimes get a bit shaky in times of stress, so please do check the accuracy of anything you hear before sharing rumours.”