The Marlborough region has been the epicentre for so many huge quakes. Many years ago I was talking to Fred, a local identity in Kenepuru Sound, He was at St Omer when the Murchison Earthquake of 1929 hit. He said that the hills rippled back and forth as the shock waves hit. Mini tsunamis hit the beach soon after.
I grew up with regular quakes, some of them quite big, in Wellington. Apart from chimneys, everything stood up. Tokyo still stands after several of 6+. I am now an exile in Australia. Quakes here terrify me as the houses and commercial buildings would never survive a quake of reasonable proportions.
Barbara
Upper Yarra Valley. Victoria.