New Zealand earthquake: Live updates as cleanup hampered by storm after major tremors cause ‘utter devastation’
Tourists have been evacuated from coastal town Kaikoura which has been badly hit by the series of large tremors
Two more earthquakes have hit New Zealand in the hours after a 7.8 magnitude killed two.
Emergency officials are warning of a tsunami and have urged people living along the east coast to move to higher ground.
The first quake struck 57 miles north-northeast of Christchurch just after midnight local time on Monday and shook much of the country.
A second of 6.2 magnitude struck New Zealand’s South Island at around 2.20am this morning.
And a third of 5.8 magnitude was reported to have hit at around 7am today.
Two deaths have been reported – one in Kaikoura and one in Mt Lyford.
Around 1,200 tourists were stranded in Kaikoura.
The New Zealand Defence Force and other emergency services have been using helicopters to fly in supplies and fly out those who want to leave.
Mark Solomon, a leader of South Island indigenous Maori Ngai Tahu tribe, which has tourism and fisheries businesses around Kaikoura, said the local marae (Maori meeting place) had received 1,000 people since Monday morning.
Many slept overnight in the communal hall or in vehicles outside.
The tribe had fed them with crayfish, a delicacy for which the South Island town is famous. With no power, the tanks that hold the expensive crustaceans had stopped pumping.
“It’s better to use the food than throw it in the rubbish so we sent it up to the marae to feed people,” Solomon said.
SOURCE: goo.gl/kxtslq
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