One After Another: New Zealand Hit by Magnitude 6.3 Earthquake, Cyclone Gabrielle Death Toll Rises

Residents in Taradale clean up silt following flood waters in Napier, New Zealand, on Feb. 15, 2023. Kerry Marshall/Getty Images

An earthquake struck New Zealand on Wednesday evening as residents of the North Island begin the clean up process after Cyclone Gabrielle left the country.

Tremors were felt from lower North Island to the upper South Island, with GeoNet upgrading its initial 6.1 magnitude assessment to a magnitude of 6.3.

It struck at a depth of 50 kilometres (31 miles) and around 50 kilometres northwest of Paraparaumu town, which is 55 kilometres north of the capital city, Wellington.

No tsunami warning was sounded because the quake was “too deep to perturb seafloor,” GeoNet wrote on Twitter.

https://twitter.com/geonet/status/1625953896584859648

Meanwhile, five deaths from Cyclone Gabrielle have been confirmed, a number that is expected to rise with 1,400 people missing as flood water begins to recede.

Among the five were a volunteer firefighter and one child.

On Monday evening, two firefighters had been investigating a flooded property, then became trapped inside following a landslide. The other firefighter remains in the hospital.

“My heart goes out to his family and to his friends and colleagues in the brigade. His death is being felt by our Fire and Emergency whānau right across the country,” Fire and Emergency chief executive Kerry Gregory told 1News in a statement.

“Flags will be flown at half-mast on all fire stations to acknowledge our firefighter’s death.”

Speaking to the media on Feb. 15, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins acknowledged the firefighter for his service.

“He lost his life protecting others in his community, and our thoughts are with his loved ones,” he said, adding that the grief of the family and loved ones of the victims “will be unimaginable.”

New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins (C) Deputy Prime Minister Carmel Sepuloni (R) and Transport Minister Michael Wood (L) speak to media at Waka Kotahi Auckland Transport operations room ahead of Cyclone Gabrielle's arrival in Auckland, New Zealand, on Feb. 12, 2023. Fiona Goodall/Getty Images

Power Grid Slowly Being Restored

Hipkins said a better picture of the damage across the upper North Island was emerging as cellphone coverage was being restored.

“What is clear is the devastation is widespread and has taken a toll beyond property and livelihoods,” he said.

“Today, our immediate focus has been undertaking lifesaving missions for those affected by the floods who needed to be rescued. Getting telecommunications and power back on as quickly as possible. Conducting aerial surveys to understand the extent of the damage and to identify where people need help deploying emergency supplies, food, water, and medicine.”

Around 160,000 households are still without power, Energy and Housing Minister Megan Woods said. This is down from a peak of 225,000 the day before.

“There are still high winds in some places with blocked roads making restoration unsafe at this point,” she said.

A house sits destroyed at the bottom of a large landslide on Domain Crescent in Muriwai following Cyclone Gabrielle in Auckland, New Zealand, on Feb. 14, 2023. Phil Walter/Getty Images

The situation in Hawke’s Bay remains critical, where 60,000 households are without power and 9,000 people are displaced. The weather event has displaced around 10,500 people overall.

“We remain in an urgent response mode in the Hawke’s Bay region,” Hipkins said.

Several areas are also short of food and clean water, which authorities began delivering on Wednesday evening to Wairoa in the Hawke’s Bay region.

“A rapid relief team is working to provide a drop of bottled water for 3,000 people via helicopter that is planned to arrive this evening. The rapid relief team will also be establishing a barbeque and wider, which will cater for approximately 3,000 people this evening,” Hipkins said.

All contact with the Wairoa had been lost on Tuesday before a Starlink terminal was activated on Tuesday evening, allowing the transfer of limited information. Communications have since been restored.

The defence force will be bring a water treatment facility for drinking water on Thursday, Hipkins said.

The New Zealand Defence Force has deployed 700 personnel to assist in relief efforts, up from 239 the day before.

A national state of emergency was declared on Tuesday, the third in the country’s history after the Christchurch shootings in 2019 and the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

Cyclone Moves Further Away While Weakening

National forecaster MetService reported that Cyclone Gabrielle was 400 kilometres (250 miles) to the east of Gisborne at 10 a.m. on Feb. 15.

It continues to move southeast away from the country, weakening as it approaches the north of Chatham Islands.

MetService says the severe weather has eased in most places, but heavy rain will continue to fall throughout central New Zealand.

“While rainfall accumulations are not expected to reach warning amounts in Hawke’s Bay and Tairawhiti/Gisborne on Thursday and Friday, it will be falling on saturated soil in an area where rivers are still running high, and floodwaters remain, so there could still be further damage and flooding associated with it,” MetService meteorologist Jessie Owen said.

Surfers head out into large waves and rough seas from Cyclone Gabrielle at Goat Island Marine Reserve in Auckland, New Zealand, on Feb. 13, 2023. Fiona Goodall/Getty Images

It also revealed that Northland, Gisborne, Hawke’s Bay, and Auckland had been inundated with up to 408, 488, 338, and 200 millimetres of rain between Sunday and Wednesday, respectively.

Most cities in North Island also received wind gusts of over 100 kilometres per hour, with Auckland recording speeds up to 150 kilometres per hour.

This affected air travel, with Air New Zealand revealing that over 800 flights had been impacted by Cyclone Gabrielle, affecting around 49,000 customers.

Emergency Management Minister Kieran McAnulty said the recovery phase is going to be long and slow.

“This is not going to be a quick fix and it’s not going to be cheap but we’re committed to do it,” he told Radio New Zealand.

The country remains in a national state of emergency, which will be reviewed after seven days.