News / Donna narrowly avoids New Zealand quake
A SHETLANDER visiting New Zealand says she would have been in Kaikoura on the day a deadly 7.8 magnitude earthquake rocked the town if she hadn’t been encouraged to stay longer with friends for a night out.
Donna Simpson, who is originally from Whalsay but lives in Lerwick, has spent the last six months touring around New Zealand in a campervan.
She was due to visit Kaikoura when the massive earthquake, which killed two people and has seen the coastal town left without road access, struck on Sunday night.
However, after meeting up with Shetland friends in Picton, which is less than 100 miles away, she was encouraged to stay longer for a “spree” instead of travelling on.
Simpson was awoken while sleeping in her campervan by strong jolts as tremors from the earthquake reached Picton.
“I feel really lucky to have stayed in Picton for a few extra days, as I would have had to abandon Doris the camper and get airlifted or boated out,” she said.
“There is no way out of Kaikoura by land as the roads are completely blocked – they are either buried under landslides or with a few metre-wide cracks.
Everywhere I’ve camped so far has been on the shore on a beach, so would have definitely been close to the sea. There was a five metre high tsunami that destroyed a house, which could have easily washed away a camper parked right on the shore.”
Over 1,800 smaller quakes have been felt in New Zealand since Monday and Simpson says everyone is “on edge”, despite the country being well experienced with earthquakes.
Hundreds of people have been evacuated from Kaikoura, with numerous warships from Australia and elsewhere, such as the US, helping to move people away from the town.
The quake struck northeast of Christchurch on New Zealand’s South Island, with jolts being felt as far away as Wellington 120 miles away.
After the magnitude was upgraded from 7.5 to 7.8 it became the largest earthquake in New Zealand since the Dusky Sound quake in 2009.
Simpson took part in a baking session with her pals to make food for those stranded in Kaikoura, while locals have also donated supplies.
She will now alter her plans to avoid the Kaikoura area as she continues her tour of New Zealand.
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