‘It felt like a truck’: Earthquake near Te Anau triggers brief tsunami scare

A magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck 40km north of Te Anau at 9.14pm last night, writes Henry Oliver in today’s excerpt from The Bulletin.

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A magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck 40km north of Te Anau at 9.14pm last night, triggering a tsunami warning and evacuation order for a portion of the South Island’s West Coast before the all-clear was given. According to 1News’s James Ball, the quake, initially recorded as a 6.3 magnitude before being revised down, was felt by nearly 20,000 people across a wide area, from Southland and Otago to Canterbury.

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) issued a tsunami advisory and evacuation order for the coast from Milford Sound to Puysegur Point, instructing residents and visitors to immediately move to higher ground. But, as reported by the Herald, by 11.26pm, NEMA had cancelled both the advisory and the evacuation order after no tsunami signals were detected by Earth Sciences NZ in the two hours following the event.

“This indicates that there is no ongoing tsunami activity affecting the area, and the threat has now passed,” the agency stated. The advisory was initially downgraded from a warning, with 1News noting that while coastal inundation was not expected, dangerous currents and unpredictable surges remained a possibility.

‘It felt like a truck’

Southland mayor Rob Scott, speaking to RNZ, said he had heard reports of cracking and other damage to houses, and that people in Milford Sound “did do the right thing” by moving to higher ground.

Earth Sciences NZ scientist Bill Fry said the quake would have generated strong shaking near the epicentre and noted the region had experienced significant seismic activity before, including a 7.8 magnitude earthquake in Dusky Sound in 2009. He said monitoring remained heightened for aftershocks with the potential to cause damage or trigger landslides. Several smaller aftershocks of light or weak intensity were recorded through the night, the Herald noted.

Residents described a range of experiences, as reported by the Herald: a Wānaka couple told RNZ the bed moved and “it felt like a truck was driving close past the bedroom”; a Bannockburn resident described “long, shallow waves”; and a Christchurch woman on the 10th floor of her apartment building felt “a rolling motion” and several aftershocks after. A Portobello resident described the quake to 1News as “very intense,” while another in St Kilda said their “sofa was swinging back and forth sideways”.

Caution remains

As a precaution, the Queenstown Lakes District Council closed the Edith Cavell Bridge for inspection by engineers at first light, with an update expected by 8.30am today. Motorists travelling over the Crown Range were also warned to take care and watch for possible rocks or debris on the road. Several smaller earthquakes were recorded in the region following the event, with officials urging continued caution.

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