Wellington fucked in an earthquake

Katie Chapman at Stuff reports:

A big quake could leave Wellington cut off from the rest of the North Island for four months, new disaster predictions show.

It could take 40 days to restore the water supply to even a basic level, while road access could take up to 120 days, according to “worst case” predictions presented to the region’s Civil Defence Emergency Management Group.

That could leave Wellington residents or commuters trapped in the city for months, and dependent on water rations being distributed by authorities for about six weeks.

The predictions relate to a quake of magnitude 7.5 or higher, and come after a magnitude-7 quake off Taranaki on Tuesday.

Basically we are very fucked if the big one strikes. I’m just 200 metres away from the local New World, so in the event of the big one, I’ll be looting shopping for supplies as quickly as I can, and then probably pitch my emergency shelter tent in Katherine Mansfield Park. Rather than rely on authorities for water rations, I’ll do a daily trip to the Kaiwharawhara stream for fresh water.

By coincidence there is going to be a nation-wide earthquake drill in September called the New Zealand ShakeOut campaign. The Ministry of Civil Defence & Emergency Management want to get a million people involved in it, so I’ll blog details close to the time.

They also kindly reminded me that in a quake their advice is to drop, cover and hold – not to flee the building as I did!