Queenstown Unscathed by Earthquake

17/07/09

Queenstowners were amongst the hordes of New Zealanders to feel one of the country’s largest recorded earthquakes despite no damage being reported in the town.

The 7.8-magnitude quake, which was centred about 90km from Tuatapere in the South Island, struck at 9.22pm Wednesday but has caused only minimal damage throughout the island.

Destination Queenstown Stephen Pahl said while he felt some minor shaking it took him and his family a few moments to even realise it was an actual earthquake.

“Despite the size of the earthquake and the fact it was in the southern part of the South Island, it really didn’t impact on Queenstown,” he said.

“None of our local businesses and operators reported any damage from the first major quake or subsequent aftershocks.

“Contrary to reports from some of our Asian markets there really hasn’t been any significant impact from last night’s earthquake and it’s very much business as usual in Queenstown.”

Queenstown Xebidy.com owner Dan Roberts’ quick tweeting on his web company’s Twitter site straight after the earthquake earned him a spot on Breakfast Television Toronto in Canada.

His regular tweets updating his followers on the facts from earthquake monitoring websites created such a momentum in Twitter he was contacted by a reporter from the Canadian television programme.

“I crossed live to them on air through Skype and started talking to them about the earthquake,” Mr Roberts said.

“I had the webcam on my computer on so they could see me and it wasn’t long before I received half a dozen Twitter messages from people who had seen me on the broadcast.”

Mr Roberts said he felt the earthquake significantly enough to grab his wife and children and stand under the door frame until the shakes subsided.