CCTV footage shows Taupō quake drama

As the ground underneath Lake Taupō starts to settle after Wednesday night’s 5.6M earthquake, dramatic footage has emerged of the scale of the largest tremor as more reports of damage across the district begin to emerge.

The 5.6M earthquake struck 15km south-west of the lakeside town at a depth of 5km at 11.47pm on Wednesday, waking people up with a sharp jolt which was followed by hundreds of aftershocks measuring from 2.5M to 4.5M.

According to a statement, the Taupō District Council has ‘‘serious concerns about the land stability’’ at Wharewaka on the eastern side of the lake, where the council estimates about 20m of foreshore has disappeared.

‘‘Other agencies are investigating the cause, but it may be a result of land slumping with a resultant wave on the lake, rather than a wave alone.’’

The council is in the process of fencing the area off and has asked visitors to stay well away from the lake edge.

On the other side of the lake at Acacia Bay, homeowners Bronson and Chelsea Dredge came home to find part of a wall next to their garage had fallen over during the quake.

‘‘We were out of town and got a call from our neighbour . . . it looked like the wall just peeled off,’’ Bronson Dredge said.

He said he was pleased he and his family were out of town at the time, but ‘‘we have felt a few aftershocks, which have been a bit unnerving’’.

In the Taupō town centre, Donna Scarrow, owner of Stardust Creations on Horomā tangi St, said staff came to work on Thursday morning to find up to $1000 worth of damage – mainly to crystals, glassware and ornaments – strewn on the floor of their shop.

‘‘It could have been a lot worse, and we are finding bits here and there as we look around more.

‘‘We are waiting for the next one, and I’m worried about the shop because we just got it all stocked up for Christmas.’’

She said locals were well aware of what was happening under the lake, but volcanoes did not bother her.

‘‘If it really goes up, we will all be gone, but I have no fear of that.’’

Scarrow lives in a Lockwood home at Wairakei and said they often felt earthquakes, but this one was different.

‘‘We really felt this one, but I don’t fear them, it’s just what happens around here

. . . but our dogs really freaked out, and the whole house was really moving.’’

Scarrow said she hoped the volcanic alert level was not raised any higher, ‘‘it would make all our tourists panic’’.

Ian Camell, owner of Taxicat Adventures based in Kinloch, said he thought the quake was different from the ones he’s experienced in the 21 years he and his wife have lived in Taupō .

‘‘It just kept rolling for hours and kept us up all night,’’ he said.

‘‘We get so many here you just get used to them, but this was different, and I did actually start to get worried it could be a big one, it was scary.’’

GNS Science volcanologist Steve Sherburn said they were expecting aftershocks to continue for another few weeks.

‘‘And we might be experiencing a few more magnitude four events . . . but, the size and frequency of those aftershocks is already going down just a few days later.’’

He said unrest episodes could go on for months.

‘‘What we are seeing so far this year is not out of the ordinary and is caused by activity in the magma system under the lake, and when it does something it’s not for a few days or weeks, but for months.

‘‘This is the most extreme activity so far this year . . . over the last few days we have had almost as many earthquakes as we have had for the whole year.’’

He said it was a good reminder for people to be prepared ‘‘in the unlikely eventuality you have to leave your house’’.

Sherburn said automatic alerts were sent to the Geonet app and to those following on social media platforms such as Twitter.

‘‘Within that app you can configure what you are notified about. I actually turned mine off because there were too many earthquakes.’’ $