A simulator on display at Queenstown Airport yesterday has helped shake up the way people think about preparing for an earthquake.
Staff and visitors tested out the piece of kit in the airport’s forecourt for one day only as part of Airport Safety Week, and a talk on earthquake preparation measures from Michele Poole, public information manager at Emergency Management Otago, was held in the afternoon.
The simulator gave users the chance to experience what a magnitude five or six earthquake felt like, before Ms Poole spoke about the key principles of staying safe during an earthquake and how to survive associated power and infrastructure problems.
Ms Poole said the simulation gave people "a real sense of being unbalanced" and was a "great opportunity to practice the right thing to do in an earthquake" — drop where you are, cover your head and hold on until the shaking stops.
"People who haven’t actually felt one before really have no idea how extreme the sensation can be ... in many cases it will be too strong to stay on your feet safely.
"The first thing to do is actually acknowledge that we live in a country that’s prone to earthquakes.
"We live on the Ring of Fire, just like Indonesia and Japan, and those other places that have had fairly large earthquakes recently."
The simulator was a trailer on wheels, which shook underfoot when plugged into a power source.
Ms Poole said a new, upgraded simulator was in the pipeline, as this one had been used in Southland for several years.
She said people were living during a period in which a "severe" earthquake was expected to affect the South Island, adding that Queenstown’s large visitor population would only add to the pressures of dealing with one.
The South Island Alpine Fault Earthquake Response (SAFER) Framework launched this month after two years of work by AF8, a collaboration between all of the South Island’s civil defence emergency management groups, scientists and partner agencies. It aimed to produce a co-ordinated earthquake response in the region.
Meanwhile, businesses in Queenstown and Wanaka will get a refresher on flood risk next week during an annual flood awareness campaign.
Businesses close to Lake Wanaka will be visited by staff from the Otago Regional Council, the Queenstown Lakes District Council and Emergency Management Otago next Wednesday and those close to Lake Wakatipu will be visited next Thursday.
ORC engineering, hazards and science director Dr Gavin Palmer said the annual campaign was an opportunity to advise communities on how they might be affected by a flood, and outline what they could do to minimise the impact of one.
Otago Emergency Management Officer for Queenstown Lakes, Trevor Andrews, said residents generally had "several days’ notice" before flooding was likely in the district.
