Just had an e-mail from bro-in-law. It looks pretty serious, even if there were few deaths. Canada & OZ have sent warships to help ferry essentials to Kaikoura. He lives near Wellington & that has significant problems, and he is in Auckland with a daughter. The problems are logistical, but that doesn't make them easier.

When I lived there, the thinking was that ships would be the prime mode of getting places after such events. It does highlight how inter-dependent we all are.

In the UK we import a high percentage of our food.

When I asked bro-in-law about earthquakes around Wellington he mentioned the "big one" comes every 500 years ish, "oh!" says I, "when was the last one?" - he said without a flicker of trepidation, "1000 years ago". Not surprisingly they have whole gov depts (plural) dedicated to studying, monitoring, reporting, and preparing.