Quakes felt in Kāpiti

Around midnight on Monday 14 November a magnitude 7.5 earthquake occurred 15 km northeast of Culverden in the South Island, at a depth of 15 km. Since then, there have been several severe earthquakes in the Seddon and Kaikoura region. Strong earthquakes have been felt in Wellington and in Kāpiti.

UPDATE AT 10.15AM:

The Kāpiti Coast Emergency Operations Centre has deactivated.  The Council is now responding to any further earthquake-related matters through business as usual activities.

We’re continuing to flush sections of the water network following reports of murky water, and our advice remains the same:

It is likely the movement of the ground has disturbed material sitting in the bottom of the pipes. Our team is checking to make sure it is not something more serious. In the meantime it is advised flushing the taps in your house should help, but it may make some time to clear.

The procedure for flushing your house is to:

• start at an outside tap at the front of the house and run it fully open for 10 minutes
• then flush the COLD taps starting from the bathroom, then the laundry and last the kitchen until they run clear.

If the water still doesn’t clear and you remain concerned, you may want to boil your drinking water and contact our customer services team on 0800 486 486.

UPDATE AT 8.35AM:

We’re continuing to look into reports of murky water in Waikanae and in several other locations in the district.

It is likely the movement of the ground has disturbed material sitting in the bottom of the pipes. Our team is checking to make sure it is not something more serious. In the meantime it is advised flushing the taps in your house should help, but it may make some time to clear.

The procedure for flushing your house is to:

• Start at an outside tap at the front of the house and run it fully open for 10 minutes
• Then flush the COLD taps starting from the bathroom and then the laundry and last the kitchen until they run clear.

If it still doesn’t clear and you remain concerned you may want to boil your drinking water.

All of the Council’s Water and Wastewater Plants are undamaged and are running as normal.

Please stay clear of the Civic Theatre in Ōtaki because it’s an earthquake-prone building and is yet to be checked.

If there are any questions please contact our customer services team on 0800 486 486.

UPDATE AT 7.30AM:

Council staff are continuing to check community facilities, infrastructure and local roads in the district and the Kāpiti Emergency Operations Centre remains fully operational.

The Coastlands Aquatic Centre has been checked and will be open at 9am. Ōtaki Library and service centre, Paraparaumu Library and the council’s animal management shelter have also been checked and will open at normal business hours.

We are looking into reports of murky water in Waikanae. There may be some sediment in the water, please run the taps for a few minutes to flush the system. If it doesn’t clear or you’re still concerned please phone us 0800 486 486.

UPDATE AT 5.55AM:

The Kāpiti Emergency Operations Centre has been activated. We're continuing to monitor the situation and have staff out checking community facilities and infrastructure. There is no reports of significant damage in Kāpiti, but we are expecting to get a clearer idea at day break.

There is an official warning in place to stay away from beaches due to a tsunami threat – in Kāpiti the red zone for tsunami is the beaches.

You can stay in your own homes, but please stay off the beach and away from tidal estuaries. If you feel a long and strong earthquake at any stage that you are worried about please self-evacuate – there are no tsunami sirens in Kāpiti.

All council buildings are closed until further notice – this includes libraries, pools, council service centres and all council halls. Our building team is carrying our inspections on major public buildings and we will provided updates as and when we can.

Our council call centre will be operating as normally, so you can contact us 0800 486 486 if you require assistance.

If people are at all concerned about their safety inside their homes please relocate to family and friends, and contact your insurer to report damage.

For people wanting to know about power outages Electra (0800 567 876) will be best in the first instance, but when we become aware of outages we will make information available on our website.

For those wanting to travel to Wellington it’s strongly advised not to travel into the CBD today. It appears there are damages around the city, especially in high rise buildings.

Some buildings have suffered internal damages and need to be checked by building inspectors. If you have concerns speak to your building manager. Check with your employer for any specific guidance related to your work place.

The situation could change for us in Kāpiti, but we will let you know if this happens via our Facebook page and here on our website.

UPDATE AT 4.50AM:

The initial quake was felt just after midnight and has been followed by a number of follow up quakes across the country.

This was a very complex earthquake that occurred both on land and at sea which is making it difficult to analyse. 

Kāpiti Emergency Operations Centre has been partially activated and we're continuing to monitor the situation.

There's NO reported tsunami threat to us here in Kāpiti.  But we want you to be safe, so please stay clear of beaches and tidal estuaries.

If you feel a long and strong earthquake at any time and are worried, please activate your tsunami evacuation plan.

You can stay in your own homes, but please stay off the beach and if you feel a long and strong earthquake at any stage that you are worried about please self-evacuate - there are no sirens in Kāpiti.

The tsunami warning is for Wellington city and the East Coast - the situation could change for us - but we will let you know if this happens.

There is a tsunami threat for the East Coast of all of New Zealand and people are being advised if they are in that area to move inland or to higher ground immediately.

There is no reported threat to us locally here in Kāpiti but if you are concerned, please activate your tsunami evacuation plan – there is more information at www.kapiticoast.govt.nz/tsunami 

Power updates

• There may be some areas in Kāpiti without power.
• For reports of damage please contact Electra on 0800 567 876. Please continue to stay clear of lines. 
• Manly, Golf Rd, Martin Road and area, power will be out until mid to late morning.
• Paekākāriki from State Highway 1 back towards Raumati will be out until mid to late morning.
• The Electra team are investigating faults along Manakau South Road
• Waikanae Beach in the Greenway Road area are likely to be out until until mid to late morning too

 

Roading updates

• From the NZ Transport Agency, in the North Island there are no reports of damage causing road closures but as the situation can change rapidly, the agency is still advising people to delay non-essential travel.
• For those who are travelling to higher ground, there may be more traffic on the roads. Please be patient.
• From Metlink, all services on the Wellington network are suspended until further notice and the Wellington Railway Station is closed to the public until further notice.
• A full inspection of the network needs to take place in daylight before services can resume.
• Please do not to travel into the Wellington Central Business District and if travel is urgent you will need to arrange alternative transport please.